The port city of Ventspils is one of the most beautiful, dynamic and prosperous cities in Latvia.
It is located on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, 189 km northwest of the capital city of Latvia, Riga. Ventspils covers a total area of 55.4 km² of which 38% are covered by forests, parks and waterways. Although Ventspils is only the sixth largest city in Latvia, its highly developed port infrastructure has made Ventspils into one of the most affluent urban centres in Latvia.
During the past two decades Ventspils economy has grown enormously and has become one of Latvia’s success stories of economic development. Among the municipal government's top priorities have been environmental issues and now Ventspils is one of the cleanest cities in Latvia. Governing authorities seek to improve the living standards through various business incentives and development of the city’s infrastructure. Venstpils has a remarkable historical legacy of architecture, knowledge of old trades and local culture that has been acknowledged, popularized and thus preserved.
The principal driving force behind the city’s rapid development is transport and communications industries which account for more than half of the city’s GDP. About half of the employed city's residents work for one or another enterprise at the Ventspils Port. The largest transport and communications companies such as Ventspils nafta and Ventbunkers (oil and oil products), Kālija parks (potassium chloride) and several others are leading of its kind in Latvia and internationally.
Development of industry is assuming an increasingly important role in Ventspils’s development. Ventspils City Council has set it as its priority to provide most favourable conditions possible for development of new industrial enterprises. An example of the city's initiatives is Bucher Schoerling Baltic (a top international manufacturer of street-cleaning machinery) who have established a subsidiary manufacturing plant in Vesntspils.
Besides manufacturing and transport, Ventspils has a well-established tourism industry and related spheres (shops, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, sports etc.).
