Commission has set two main goals for international cooperation – promoting the professional development of the Commission’s employees and strengthening its position in international organizations/institutions by having observer or full-fledged participant status. In 2002 international cooperation expanded in several directions. Information below is only a partial insight.

Cooperation with regional and sector regulatory associations

          In April 2002 the regulators of three Baltic States signed a memorandum on information exchange, and in November 2002 Energy Market Inspectorate of Estonia, Public Utilities Commission of Latvia and National Control Commission for Prices and Energy of Lithuania signed a memorandum on the Common Baltic Electricity Market.

          Within the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA) the Commission participated in the work of Committees on Tariffs and Prices, Licensing, and Competition. The Commission regularly provided information on the economic indicators of the Latvian energy sector and the national economy, as well as the use of regenerative resources in the production of electricity. The Commission also expanded the bilateral cooperation with U.S. National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) – the main financial supporter of ERRA.

          In the telecommunications sector the Commission started cooperation with European Independent Regulators Group.

Cooperation with international institutions

          In 2002 cooperation continued with Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) (training program in telecommunications sector), World Bank (the Commission has prepared and submitted projects to receive World Bank grants), and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Commission participated in the Advisory Council of OECD’s Baltic Regional Program and was represented in OECD meetings.

Cooperation with EU

          Year 2002 marked more active participation in EC (European Commission) committees. In the telecommunications and postal sector the Commission was represented in the Telecommunications Open Network Provision Committee and European Committee for Postal Regulation.

          The Commission also participated in the telecommunications sector research group of EU candidate countries and gathered information on the telecommunications market in Latvia in cooperation with telecommunications companies and sector associations.

          In 2002 the Commission’s employees actively used the help of foreign consultants and participated in the seminars within the Ministry of Economy Phare project for Energy sector restructuring.