One of Latvia’s greatest assets is its unspoilt nature; more than half of the country is covered with forests. European Union funding is essential to the various sectors of Latvia’s economy, the greatest support being provided for transport infrastructure, environmental protection, communication and information technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, education, science, employment and other areas. In the previous programming period (2007-2013) the European Union invested EUR 4.5 billion, accounting for around 70% of total public funding in Latvia. EUR 4.4 billion in EU funding has been allocated for the current programming period.