The eve of Latvia's centenary is a great moment to reflect on who we, modern Latvians, are and what direction we have currently taken. Are we slowly fading away and letting ourselves be washed away, taking a course of self-preservation, or looking confidently to the future? I want to think that we are resilient, smart, and growth-oriented. We are industrious. I hope that we all feel like owners of our land and, with the responsibility of an owner, continue to sow the values that carry our common code – care for the land and the people in the country where we were born. As an entrepreneur and a mother of two, the centenary of Latvia once again leads me to reflect on what the code of today's industrious Latvian is and in what direction our common ship is heading.

Our future depends entirely and solely on our entrepreneurs. Modern entrepreneurs. What are we like?

Primarily, we are creative and diligent, yet we wait for praise and support. There are few of us, but we are capable of swimming in the global business ocean at increasing speed. Wind tunnels, excellent wood products, leading IT technology solutions - this list could go on and on. But, in my opinion, in our daily lives, we praise and appreciate ourselves too little.

My company's team also creates excellent products on a daily basis that gain recognition not only in Latvia but throughout much of Europe. And as the owner of a growing company with this Latvian code, I would like to hear confirmation more often from the corridors of power that what I do for the good of society and my family is important. And while I look for new sales channels, the state should be ready to support me. We, as entrepreneurs, are waiting for this encouragement, expressed through a real and functional tax policy and a reduction in the bureaucratic burden – “Well done! You are succeeding. Thank you for your contribution! And you can certainly do even better. We believe in you!” I would very much like to believe that the common trait of the nation is directed towards upward movement, although I also believe that we currently lack a unified, strong state policy that would lead us all together towards rapid growth.

The legacy of the Soviet years conditioned us to blame our failures on external factors - unfavourable weather conditions, politicians, foreigners, etc. Meanwhile, we talk little about productivity, added value, creativity in business, or the ability to cooperate. Unfortunately, in daily life, a large part of our society views new, unconventional ideas with disbelief, which reduces the desire to think "outside the box". That is why I am truly happy about the new generation of entrepreneurs, about “Start-up” projects, about the “old giants” that, thanks to progressive and forward-looking leaders, are able to see beyond our borders and compete in the global market. But most of all, I want to pat the thousands of Latvia's medium and small entrepreneurs on the shoulder, who stubbornly hammer horseshoes for our Antiņš day after day, so that he may one day ride up the Glass Mountain.

I hope that the new generation, whose self-confidence we certainly should not worry about, will be able to achieve great things not only in the European, but in a global context. Whims of nature or tax policy will not be an obstacle for them.

There is another fact about the industrious Latvian. Do we, beautiful and strong, mighty and smart people, know how to smile at ourselves? How far have we come in our self-development and what is happening with the nation's collective sense of humour, self-criticism, and self-confidence? It is known that we each shape this country. And your sense of humour, self-criticism, and self-confidence, along with those of the remaining nearly two million residents, are the key to our nation's general mood and, in a way, our future growth. It seems the modern Latvian is slowly learning to laugh at themselves, not to take criticism over-sensitively, and is learning to accept that the world has its own rules. An inability to accept criticism has always been a weak point of the Latvian, but it must be remembered that those who go out and do things will always be criticised. For a confident person, criticism serves as an accelerator. A confident person can admit mistakes and move forward. And – a confident person can forgive another's mistakes and give them a chance to try again.

They say all problems arise from comparison. However, I think that in this case, for us Latvians, it would be valuable to compare. Less than 30 years ago, we were one of the 15 republics of the collapsing Soviet Union. But how far have we broken through in these couple of decades? Yes, we are not always able to compete globally with cheap and fast solutions, we lack various resources for industrial development, and the average wage reflects the real economic situation in the country very accurately! However, our nation is industrious, diligent, and growth-oriented. Yes, most of our farmsteads sadly testify to poverty, but the new generation is defiantly breaking a window to the world! We, the Latvians, are learning to build a state from scratch. I truly believe that we will succeed! We just must not stop at the first closed door, we must support each other and know how to use the experience of developed countries. May the common Latvian code drive us in the right direction!

A beautiful and long life to our nation!