The government of Latvia on Wednesday gave its OK to a proposal from the Ministry for Education and Science to invest an additional EUR 4.9 million in the programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA). The funds are to be reallocated from other areas of EU support.

Latvia became an associate members state of the ESA in the summer of 2020.

More than 120 projects with a value of EUR 22 million have been implemented since that time. These have involved 34 organisations in Latvia, including businesses, research institutions and universities. Late last year, Latvia joined the network of ESA Business Incubation Centres.

The additional funding of nearly EUR 5 million is to support Latvia’s participation in the ESA National Programme, as well as in other programmes in which the country’s involvement has been confirmed.

The ministry declared in a statement that this will contribute toward the further development of Latvia’s scientific and high-tech sector, encourage the participation in companies and research institutions in international projects, and provide “tangible economic benefits” to Latvia.

Source: BNS

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