9 February 2011,
press release
Mr Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan,
Participants of the business forum, ladies and gentlemen,
I am very happy about our meeting and would like to sincerely thank all
who made it possible. I am grateful to Azerbaijan’s political
leadership for their support to the very idea of such a business forum and all
the organisers for their practical contribution. It is my great hope that the
business forum will help to create and improve the environment for the Lithuanian
business in Azerbaijan.
The work,
actually, does not start from the scratch. As far back as in 2008, Azerbaijan
became the most important trade partner of Lithuania in the South Caucasus, and
in 2009 the Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce successfully started its activities
in Baku. It is our satisfaction to cooperate with the state the economy of
which is experiencing one of the most rapid growths in today’s world. Equally,
we are pleased not only with the boom in your economy but also with our mutual
cooperation. In two recent years, the scope of our bilateral trade has more
than trebled, which is a remarkable achievement, but, to my mind, this is not
the limit yet. For sure, we have many other opportunities and means at our
disposal. Thus, our today’s forum presents an excellent chance to look for ways
of making use of our potential and intensifying our bilateral business ties.
Those among you, who still do not have any
direct economic ties with Lithuania,
may probably ask why our business enterprises could interest Azerbaijan. I will try to give a brief
answer and mention several examples.
First of all, I would like to put Lithuania’s
information technology (IT) sector in the spotlight because Lithuania has
set an ambitious goal in this area: to become the service and innovation centre
of the Nordic and Baltic region. The know-how and solutions developed by our
companies – from Lithuania’s
Real Property Register and Cadastre system to electronic banking and ultrasound
testing of transit cargoes at the customs – already show high quality and enjoy
European and international recognition. It is this experience that we offer to Azerbaijan.
We hope that Azerbaijan
may be interested in Lithuania’s
experience in exploiting renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency
and implementing environmental projects. Our enterprises are much experienced
in transposing the provisions of the European Union directives into the
national law. Moreover, Lithuanian experts could provide consultations to their
Azerbaijani colleagues on the projects tackling climate change. Therefore, it
would really be mutually beneficial if Lithuanian enterprises working in all
these areas would establish relations with the corresponding Azerbaijani
companies.
Food industry and in particular production and selling of meat, milk,
tomato sauce, and mayonnaise and processing of animal sub-products are business
areas where Lithuanian enterprises have really achieved much. I am glad to hear
that Azerbaijani shops offer an increasing variety of Lithuanian food products.
It is this production that serves as Lithuania’s visit card on foreign
markets and never loses its importance. So Lithuanian enterprises operating in
the aforementioned sectors are especially interested in search for new
partners, partnership development and joint business with Azerbaijani
enterprises.
At this business forum, Lithuania is represented by telecommunication
and electronics companies, medical companies, construction related, ceramics,
textile and woodwork enterprises. All of them try to find and enlarge their
circle of partners in Azerbaijan.
I think it is symbolic that Lithuania’s
delegation includes the representatives of one of the best higher schools of Lithuania. It
is our goal and wish to have as many as possible Azerbaijani students studying
in Lithuania’s
higher schools as well as to carry out joint academic projects and intensify
scientific cooperation. By the way, we already have some things to take pride
in here: nine higher education establishments of Lithuania welcomed Azerbaijani
students for the beginning of their studies in the autumn of 2010, and all the
students are exempt from tuition fees.
I believe that after completing their studies and finding their niche
activity, these young people will facilitate and accelerate the communication
and cooperation between our states.
If this meeting ends with the establishment of business relations,
finding of new partners and conclusion of new contracts, I will not hesitate to
say that our forum at least partly achieved its aim.
Many thanks for each of you who thinks and works in the same direction.
I appreciate your warm welcome and wish you all the luck and success!
Irena Degutienë
Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
