To understand this better, we must realise that we live in an era of globalisation, where the economy of any
country, including Latvia, and consequently its very sovereignty, is fundamentally
based on the ability to attract external funds. Just as a hand has five fingers, there are five main ways in which this is achieved.

Firstly, there are external subsidies. During the EU funding planning period from 2014 to 2020,
Latvia will have attracted a total of 4.4 billion euros, or approximately 628 million euros per year.
In total, this is four times more than Latvia itself will contribute to the EU budget. These are significant earnings, but after 2020, the flow of this gifted money will likely decrease and, after some time, stop completely, as Latvia transitions from a subsidy recipient to a donor country. Can long-term development plans for the state or any specific sector (including environmental protection) therefore be built on EU funding? Certainly not. Is this a bad thing? Also no – we surely do not want to be eternal beggars, but rather a strong economy that can support the weaker ones itself.

Secondly, the state attracts funds in the form of foreign investment, but this cash flow is not
stable in nature; funds are invested in company capital, and the volume of investment is to a large
extent dependent on the overall political, legislative, tax rate, and economic stability in the country.

Thirdly, the state directly attracts financial resources through loans.
However, any loan requires collateral – an economically sound plan for how to
invest the funds in profit-generating activities. Fourthly, and this applies particularly to the case of Latvia, money
is sent to their relatives and friends by compatriots living abroad. Remittances from the
Latvian diaspora from various countries amount to around half a billion euros each year. Of course,
this is good and for many families, it is an essential source of livelihood, but would it not be better if
these people could live close to their loved ones, working and earning this money right here
in Latvia, while simultaneously contributing to the payment of taxes?

Finally, fifthly, the basic driving force of any economy and the starting point for all processes
that create social welfare are export-oriented companies. And among them, manufacturing
is definitely the largest export sector in Latvia. In essence, it is one of the main cornerstones of the Latvian
economy, which in 2016 contributed more to GDP growth than any other sector.

Overall, if you add up the exports of the forest sector, agriculture, and food production
(excluding re-exports), then more than half of the goods actually produced in Latvia and sold abroad
are based on resources obtained through the sustainable management of land. They also basically underpin
almost half of the total manufacturing output in the country. Therefore, however you look at it –
at its core, Latvia is still an agrarian country, and currently, half of the country's economy
is essentially made up of land use.

And it is precisely the money earned in external markets from land use that is the foundation for all other
sectors of the national economy. As much money as exporting companies bring into the country, that is how much they have
the opportunity to spend on domestically sourced or imported goods and services, on which the rest of
all other economic activity also directly or indirectly depends. Without exports, which in Latvia's case we can equate with land management, the much-awaited
increase in social welfare is not possible.