National development planning

The purpose of development planning is to promote sustainable and stable development of the country and to improve the people's quality of life.

 

According to the Law on the Development Planning System, national development planning documents are prepared for a long-term (up to 25 years), medium-term (up to seven years) and short-term (up to three years).

All development planning documents include strategic objectives and results (outcomes and outputs) to be reached in the field of the relevant policy, a description of existing problems and their solutions, an impact assessment, as well as further action for the implementation and evaluation of the planned policy. The necessary financial resources and responsible institutions are also identified.

 

Highest national-level development planning documents

Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia until 2030 (Latvia 2030) is hierarchically the highest national-level, long-term planning document. It enumerates the main tasks of the state and society to achieve balanced and sustainable development. Latvia 2030 outlines 7 development priorities (development of culture space, investment in human capital, change of paradigm in education, innovative and eco-efficient economy, nature as future capital, perspective of spatial development, innovative government and participation of the society), 7 strategic indicators (natural population growth, the GINI coefficient, GDP per capita, the ecological footprint, the Human Development Index, the Global Competitiveness Index, dispersion of regional GDP per capita), 11 objectives, 11 development directions, 42 areas of action and 27 performance indicators.

National Development Plan of Latvia for 2021-2027 (NDP2027),approved by the Saeima at the extraordinary session on July 2, 2020. NDP2027 is Latvia’s main medium-term development planning document. NDP2027 envisages the strategic objectives, priorities and measures for sustainable and balanced development of Latvia for the next seven-year planning period to achieve the Latvian Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 (Latvia2030), the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to improve the quality of life in Latvia over the next seven years.

National Development Plan of Latvia for 2021-2027(NDP2027) - Summary.

National Development Plan of Latvia for 2014-2020 (NDP2020) / Национальный план развития на период с 2014 по 2020 гг. (in Russian) is hierarchically the highest national-level medium-term planning document. NDP2020 sets the most important medium-term objectives, priorities and performance indicators, areas of action, outcomes and responsible institutions. NDP2020 guiding principle “economic breakthrough” and its three priorities: “Growth of the National Economy”, “Human Securitability” (a form of resilience) and “Growth for Regions” form a mutually effective and unified system that fits the sustainable planning approach and structure defined in Latvia 2030.

The NDP2020 macro impact indicators (GDP per capita, income inequality, natural population growth) provide the required data for regular evaluation of the implementation of the NDP2020 and the impact assessment. The most important strategic objectives (12) have been identified for each of the NDP2020 priorities, along with outcomes to determine the degree to which the objectives have been reached. The most detailed component of NDP2020 is the level of individual measures (98), which define the steps to be taken in order to achieve the goals. All of the selected outputs are related to the values of NDP2020, they are focused, interrelated and subordinated, and provide a comprehensive description of the degree of implementation of the main goal.

 

The Government Action Plan is prepared based on the Declaration of the Intended Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers. The document defines the main results to be delivered and tasks to be accomplished by the responsible institutions in order to implement political priorities set by the current government. Compliance of Government’s Declaration and Action Plan with development priorities set in the hierarchically highest long/ medium term development planning documents is ensured by law.