The Rezekne forum is scheduled for 7 September, following technology demonstrations. Companies should arrive with a defined commercial role and a useful next step.
Latvia’s second Dual-Use Export Forum is scheduled for 7 September 2026 in Rezekne, giving participating companies a concentrated setting for international partnership discussions. The commercial opportunity depends on preparation. A supplier should be able to explain what it contributes, which organisation would buy that contribution and what a useful next step would look like.
LIAA’s July announcement describes a forum organised with the Latvian Exporters Association and public partners, with technology demonstrations planned for 6 September and structured business meetings on 7 September. It anticipates participation by international integrators, suppliers, investors and Latvian businesses. Those are the organiser’s planned activities and expected attendance, rather than evidence of completed partnerships. LIAA’s forum announcement
A prime contractor may be interested in a qualified component, a local production capability or a specialist service. An investor needs a business case and evidence of commercial progress. A technology partner may want to know how the products connect and who owns the resulting customer relationship. The company should adapt its short presentation to the decision each counterpart can actually make. For an indirect sales route, examine Australia's Global Supply Chain Program and its participating primes and the role of the contractor purchasing the work.
The preparation should include one clear example of the contribution offered. Explain the purchased function, present maturity and delivery model. If the company is seeking a partner rather than a customer, identify the missing capability and why combining the two businesses would create a better offer. A vague request for access to the defence market makes it difficult for a counterpart to help.
A useful objective might be confirming whether a component fits a supplier category, understanding the evidence required for evaluation or identifying the person responsible for a work package. The company should avoid measuring success only by the number of meetings completed. One conversation that changes a market-entry decision can be more valuable than several introductions with no follow-up owner. The DALO Industry Days follow up guide turns an event discussion into a specific requirement, counterpart and next step.
Keep the initial material public and proportionate. A concise capability statement, relevant product evidence and a description of the intended commercial relationship are usually enough to establish whether a deeper discussion is worthwhile. Detailed technical exchange should follow an agreed scope and appropriate information-handling arrangements.
After the meeting, record what the counterpart actually requested. A technical review, supplier registration and a funded development proposal are distinct next steps. Assign a company owner and a realistic date for each. If the request would require bespoke engineering, establish who would fund it and what decision it is meant to enable before beginning extensive work. Assess Defence Tech Denmark eligibility alongside a credible local business plan and the team's available time.
For companies unable to attend, public event and participant material can still support partner research. It does not establish endorsement of every exhibitor or guarantee access to a purchasing programme. The same qualification questions apply to a later approach.
LIAA reports that the 2025 forum in Liepāja brought together more than 140 company representatives and facilitated over 125 meetings. It names Diehl Defence, EuroSpike, GDELS, Cyber Eagle and Promoteq among the participants. For the 2026 edition, the agency forecasts more than 180 structured meetings and describes a programme combining demonstrations, an exhibition area and individual discussions. LIAA's account of the two editions
The historical names help explain the event's intended commercial setting. They indicate that the first edition included established international industrial and supply-chain actors, alongside Latvian businesses. They do not establish that every named organisation will return in 2026, nor that a company appearing at the earlier event is currently seeking the same products. A participant researching counterparts needs the current meeting information as well as the previous edition's history.
The meeting totals should also be read as activity measures. One company can take part in several meetings, and a meeting can involve participants with different reasons for attending. Counting conversations does not reveal the number of new contracts or the value of commercial relationships. The more informative outcome is whether an introduction develops into a specific exchange that changes what either business does next.
The event design creates a useful sequence. A demonstration can help a counterpart understand what a product does and ask informed questions. A subsequent commercial meeting can address who would buy it, how the relationship would work and what resources a next step requires. Treating the demonstration as the whole sales process leaves those economic questions unresolved.
For a hypothetical civilian inspection-software company, a demonstration might show a report generated from sample asset data. The later meeting would need to establish whether the counterpart wants to buy the software, distribute it or combine it with an existing service. Each route could use the same demonstration while requiring a different agreement. The product's visible function therefore needs to be connected to a clear commercial relationship.
The distinction is particularly relevant at a dual-use event. A company may have strong evidence from a civilian market but limited experience with the prospective defence customer's purchasing process. Its best contribution to the meeting is a precise account of the established product and an honest explanation of what would need to change for another customer. That gives the counterpart something concrete to assess without turning the presentation into a speculative new product launch.
A commercial record should capture the point that made the meeting worth continuing. If the counterpart asked about a distribution territory, the next exchange should address that territory and the services a distributor would provide. If the issue was a product evaluation, it should identify the question the evaluation would answer and the people needed to conduct it. A generic thank-you message cannot carry that information by itself.
The time commitment also deserves attention. Seven promising conversations can create more follow-up work than a small team can perform at once. Prioritising them by the clarity of the purchaser, the relevance of the product and the feasibility of the next step is more useful than treating all expressions of interest as equal. The decision can be revised as stronger evidence appears, but it should not be left implicit.
For a company seeking export relationships, the forum's value may also lie in learning which role it should pursue. A meeting could reveal that the product is better suited to an established integrator's service than to a direct government sale. Another could show that local support is essential to a credible offer. Those findings are commercially useful even when no immediate order follows, because they change the cost and structure of market entry.
Rezekne's programme therefore offers a setting for testing a proposition against several kinds of counterpart in a short period. The preparation that makes that possible is substantive: a product example, an intended relationship and a question whose answer would affect the company's next decision. The follow-up then turns the event from a calendar entry into a traceable part of the export strategy.
As of 6 September 2026, the forum remains scheduled for the following day; this article does not verify spare registration capacity or claim that planned demonstrations have occurred. The commercially useful preparation is a specific partnership proposition and a clear question for each meeting. That gives both parties a basis for deciding whether the relationship deserves further technical, financial or procurement work.
LIAA’s event announcement checked 6 September 2026. Attendance and meeting counts are organiser expectations; registration availability and completed outcomes are not asserted.
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