Riga, Sept 28 (LETA) - The only way to attract people to the regions is to create jobs, and otherwise depopulation cannot be stopped, Smart Administration and Regional Development Raimonds Cudars (New Unity) told LETA in an interview.

The depopulation trend in the countryside has been going on for 30 years, and now it is slowing down, but not stopping completely.

The minister stressed that it is necessary to be honest about this reality - there will be places in Latvia where there will be no people, and such places already exist today.

Asked whether there was any plan to stop depopulation, the minister explained that regional development centers were crucial to provide urban environments and the conditions for business and industry to develop in particular places.

"The only way that people choose to live in relatively sparsely populated areas is if they have a job. If jobs are not created in certain areas, we will not stop depopulation in any way, especially for young people," the minister said.

Nor can it be stopped by creating public sector jobs in remote areas, he said, because that is simply not economically viable.

The minister pointed out that there is a support program that directly supports the establishment of business projects in the regions - industrial parks and business-related infrastructure.

This, in his view, is delivering results in substance, as it creates the preconditions for an entrepreneur to enter a relatively ready-made environment without additional investment in connections, roads or, in some cases, industrial buildings.