The US Baltic Foundation (USBF), US Department of Commerce (DOC), and the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in the Americas (LatCham) are traveling to Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia from November 12th through 21st to learn more about the structure, trends, and future potential of the Transportation sector in the Baltic countries.

LatCham Chairman Gustav Plato will be accompanying Maria Ogrydziak, Chair of the USBF, and Leah Markowitz, Baltic Desk Officer at DOC. This trip is the first of many envisioned exchanges in the transportation sector. One of the coming highlights will be the USBF's 2009 business program.

The 2009 business program will be held as part of the US Baltic Foundation’s 2009 annual gala weekend. The gala weekend begins with the 2-day business program. In 2009, the business program will focus on Transportation Infrastructure, Technology, and Financing. Bringing together public and private sector leaders from all transportation modes, the program will provide the venue to explore new project opportunities, share technological developments, identify financing strategies including public- private partnerships, and provide an opportunity for networking among public and private sector representatives from the Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the United States.

The business program is being chaired by Gustav Plato, Founder and Chair of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in the Americas. The program’s leadership team includes Maria Ogrydziak, President of USBF; Trevor Dane, General Director of USBF; Leah Markowitz, Baltic Desk Officer at the Department of Commerce; Thomas Moor, Embassy of Estonia; Krista Tassa, Estonian American Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Uldis Salenieks, Latvian Investment Agency (LIAA); Inese Liepiņa, Embassy of Latvia, and Dalia Kadisiene, Embassy of Lithuania.