Drawn by affordable education, thousands of Indian students arrive in Latvia each year. DW met some graduates who've launched successful businesses in the Baltic country.
00:00Latvia has quietly become a magnet for international students, with Indians leading the surge.
00:08Affordable tuition, EU-reugnance degrees and English taught programs have made the
00:13Baltic nation a surprisingly attractive study destination.
00:17But after graduation, one big question looms.
00:20What's next?
00:21Can Indian students find jobs in their new home country?
00:25We ask young Indians on the streets of Riga.
00:28If you know the local language, it will be easy to find the jobs.
00:32A lot of Indians are trying a business and they also become successful.
00:35So, I think as a doctor, it's easy.
00:37But in Latvia, the pay is generally less compared to the other countries in Europe.
00:44I have heard that IT industry had some jobs here, but not other.
00:50For those graduates seeking answers, Inis Salda Bola is the first person to turn to in Riga.
00:55As the head of the Latvian integration and inclusion agency, she knows that even the most qualified graduates need strong Latvian or Russian language skills to truly succeed.
01:06Jo, es varu iedomÄties situÄciju, esot citÄ valstÄ«, uzsÄkot darba attiecÄ«bas jaunÄ kolektÄ«vÄ, es nepazÄ«stu cilvÄkus, es nezinu valodu.
01:20Man ir kaut kÄda daļai izpratni par darba pienÄkumiem, kas man ir jÄveic, bet tas noteikti ir ļoti, ļoti izaicinoÅ”i.
01:26Ja es nevaru komenticÄt sev saprotamÄ valodÄ par darba pienÄkumiem, es nevaru sazinÄties un bÅ«t ar kolÄÄ£iem, lÄ«dz ar to es nevaru arÄ« iejusties Å”ajÄ kolektÄ«vÄ un bÅ«t daļa no sabiedrÄ«bas.
01:39While Latvia prioritises building a strong local workforce, the country also recognises its need for skilled foreign professionals.
01:46To support this, the Integration and Inclusion Agency was established in 2023 to provide tactical help for third-country nationals who come to Latvia to study, work or start a business.
01:58The agency offers assistance with learning language, residence permits, job searches and understanding legal rights,
02:05helping newcomers not just to arrive, but to truly belong.
02:10The path, however, is far from easy. Settling in a new country comes with its own set of challenges.
02:17Meet Praveen Kanna Muttakrishnan. He arrived in Riga in 2015, earned a Master's in Mechanical Engineering and went on to open the city's first South Indian restaurant.
02:27When his parents suggested he find a regular job after graduation, he was determined to pursue his own business instead.
02:35If you want to open an Indian restaurant or other business which is not related to this country, it's kind of difficult.
02:42Initially, it was hard. You know, because of the language, I wanted to do application, I wanted to do everything in the local language.
02:49But later on, it was good for me. Like, I learned it by myself and then it was easy.
02:55His determination found support in Latvia's business-friendly system.
02:58The corporate tax rate is 20% but only on profits paid out as dividends.
03:04If you reinvest your earnings, you pay zero corporate tax.
03:08This powerful incentive has allowed small businesses to scale quickly.
03:11I have customers from all the countries.
03:16The loyal customers are Latvians because eventually I am focusing only on the locals.
03:23Also, I am preparing the dish according to them.
03:25Like, also in the menu, we have like a separate section, like how spicy they want.
03:30They know what is masala dosa. We don't need to explain them.
03:33While Praveen built his dream around food, others have found business opportunities through culture.
03:38Abu Sohail, a trained medical student, now distributes Indian films across the Baltics.
03:45Sohail says that although the audiences were small at first, now every Indian film release draws a full house.
03:52Still, there is a song, Jimmy Jimmy, Aja Aja.
03:59The locals still, you know, wipe to this song.
04:04And I got this song also in one of the taxi when we were going.
04:07And the taxi driver played this song.
04:09I was like, how do you know this?
04:11He's like, Amitabh Bachchan, Jimmy Jimmy, Mithun.
04:14You know, he's like, he's talking about this.
04:16I was like, okay, there is some potential.
04:19Why not?
04:19What began as a hobby soon turned into a business, something he found far easier than getting a regular job.
04:26But turning it into a successful business hasn't been easy.
04:30Film distribution requires navigating licensing rights, negotiating with cinemas,
04:34and marketing to audiences who love Indian movies but may not be eager to sit through three-hour subtitle films.
04:41You know, in India, we have this tendency of enjoying the movies, not just simply sitting and watching,
04:46but we show our emotions.
04:49So this, here in Latvia, our Indian community does this.
04:52Whenever an actor comes on the screen, they just shout, they erupt, all their emotions are out.
04:58Some local audience, or even from some administration they came on officially to watch, they really like this vibe.
05:09Many Indian entrepreneurs state that learning the language and respecting local culture is essential for anyone
05:15hoping to build a lasting future in Latvia.
05:19But not everyone makes it.
05:20Some find job barriers too steep and decide to move on.
05:24Anthony Christian Roman Denish is one of them.
05:27After three years in Latvia, he is now packing up to move to Malta, where a job already awaits.
05:33While not all international graduates remain in Latvia, the influx of internationals has begun to reshape the country's social fabric,
05:56making it more open, connected and diverse.
05:59When I came, there were 140 Indians over here, and it was quite difficult to even connect with our community and everyone was scattered.
06:08But today we are 5,000, closer to 5,000 people, Indian community.
06:12But the one thing what took us ahead or gave success is by integrating into the society.
06:19That starts with the language, the customs, the traditions.
06:22With a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, Latvia's demographics are changing.
06:31The arrival of more foreign students has begun to fill some of the gaps, but questions about integration remain.
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