Mārtiņa Štāla blogs

Svētdien (2010.07.04) biju Neretā. Uz pārrobežas sadarbības biznesa nometni tur mani uzaicināja Meierovica biedrības biedrene Eva Birzniece no Pro Futuro, kura mani “skaļi” pieteica kā uzņēmēju. Protams, man ir daudzas tēzes un arī sava pieredze, kuru nodot tālāk. Man vislabāk patiktu runāt par to, kā sakārtot lietas politiskajā līmenī, tā lai biznesam dotu motivāciju attīstīties, taču nometnes dalībnieki (daļa latviešu un daļa lietuviešu skolnieki) ar saviem jautājumiem, mani novirzīja uz diskusiju par augstu pievienoto vērtību un to kā ir iespējams pelnīt bez milzīgām investīcijām. Par to, ka mūsdienās ir jāprot sevi “pārdot” un ka milzīga nozīme ir kontaktiem un zīmolam. Tādā veidā ir iespējams nonākt pie tā pamata, kas ir nepieciešams tāda biznesa izveidei, kuram piesaista investīcijas vai ņem kredītus. Šiem jauniešiem patika ideja par mājas lapu veidošanu, jo tas ir kaut kas ar ko tie saskaras ikdienā un tīri tehnoloģiski spēj iztēloties, kas un kā notiek.

Aptuveni šāda bija mana uzruna:

Hello. My Name is Mārtiņš Štāls i’m a software developer. I’m Microsoft certified specialist but i also work with opensorce software as well. My main job is at Latvijas Finieris as senior software developer. Latvijas Finieris is one of top taxpayers in Latvia. Latvijas Finieris history starts at 1873. when first plant Latvijas Bērzs was founded. Latvijas Finieris produces birch plywood. To produce plywood, first you need is veneer. Veneer is thin layer of wood that is peeled of the log. When multiple veneer layers are glued together, the plywood is produced. There are different products of plywood for a different usage for example: in cars, trucks, boats, ships, furniture, for construction and more. Latvijas Finieris have branch Likmere in Lithuania, Ukmerģe it produces veneer from Lithuanian birch.

That’s about it. I mean there is no much of a natural resources available in Baltic States. So how can we be competitive if we need to import resources and our taxes are not low? What should we do – reduce taxes? Maybe. But how come that other states in European Union have high taxes? That’s becouse knowledge, technologies, culture and history are also a value. Healthy and happy people can produce more. These are the services that are paid by the goverment. This means that we need to pay more taxes, to increase government budget. I would like to live in a country, that has high social standarts, education level and developed infrastructure. But this is not the way how all people see the future of Latvia. Why? Becouse some ar old and can’t wait, some are lazy and don’t want to study and some just haven’t thought about it. All of them wants fast results, like reduce taxes, build homes, sell some government property.

And if there is such demand than there is also supply – a political parties, that promise fast results. Usually this is populism, to seize the power in the country. Such politicians may be related with some businessman and that involves corruption. There are public organizations that are against the short-term thinking and corruption. For example Meierovics society whitch i’am member of. Meierovics society goal is that political decisions would be made based on moral values. Corruptions distorts competition, so it’s against the free marker.  If the competition is distorted, the development of business is endangerd. That means that most of people suffer because of these few politicians and business man. Meierovics society is for progressive change that has to be made. One thing that citizens can do is participate in elections. Citizens have to choose politicians, that respect moral values, the ones who are less populists and who have long-term thinking (that may even include raising taxes). Of course to discover populism you have to be knowledgable enough. Knowledge and education is another resource. It’s hard to gain but its very valuable. So it’s worth to pay high taxes if it’s spent for educations. Some of you soon will end school and have to decide what to do further. The formula is simple do what you like the most, do what you are most succesful at. Yes. There are highly paid jobs out there, but you will get tired of doing something that you don’t like. Money won’t make you happy forever. Any questions? If you like to read more of my views, you may visist stals.lv.