Speaker of the Seimas: US investors intend to increase jobs in Lithuania

Press release, 1 March 2017

Photos of the Office of the Seimas (author Olga Posaškova)

 

“Investments of the United States of America (US) and the jobs created here do not compete with jobs in the US but rather provide additional added value by contributing to the US companies’ global development strategy,” said Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, at the meeting with American-Lithuanian Business Council on 1 March 2017.

 

He noted that the US investors appreciated the favourable investment environment, positive business experience and close cooperation with the Lithuanian authorities. The U.S. investors commended Lithuania for paying considerable attention to higher education and foreign languages.

 

“Lithuania is an attractive destination for foreign investors as a country with one of the highest number of people with higher education in the European Union; ability to work with high technologies, susceptibility to innovation and a good command of foreign languages. The number of foreign investors requiring staff who can speak not only traditional foreign languages — English, German and French, but also other languages, is increasing. In Lithuania, we witness the growing supply of workers with a good command of several languages, which is gratifying,” said the Speaker of the Seimas.

 

During the meeting, the members of the American-Lithuanian Business Council informed about their intention to create more jobs and invest in Lithuania.

 

Over the past seven years, the US has become one of the leaders of job creation in Lithuania among foreign investors by implementing a total of 44 investment projects. Despite the shrinking US direct investments abroad, the investment figures in Lithuania continue to grow further. At the end of the third quarter of 2016 alone, the US investments in our country reached EUR 223 million.

 

Viktoras Pranckietis noted that Lithuania is a country looking for new opportunities in business: “Our main interest lies in the cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) and financial service sectors. These sectors are specifically closely linked to the current global development trends in international trade, e-business, mobile communication solutions and e-Government projects.”

 

Information technology, service centres, and companies operating in the field of financial services account for 70% of all the US investments. In Lithuania, the US companies have found a time zone suitable for global business operations and a favourable investment environment. Some of them have transferred jobs from other countries to Lithuania since they found highly qualified professionals, optimal costs, flexibility and employees with a good command of English here. As much as 76% of US-owned companies are planning their development in our country over the next three years.

 

“For US businesses seeking to be competitive in the EU market and serve their customers in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and other EU countries, Lithuania has a clear potential. We will continue to fully support the US companies seeking to start activities, get anchored and continue together developing the above and other advanced sectors in Lithuania. It is important to note that during our meeting with the US congressmen earlier this year, we agreed that the bilateral relations between the US and Lithuania were of primary importance as they ensure security of investment and continuity of our common policy,” said Mr Pranckietis.

 

 

The meeting with the Speaker of the Seimas was attended by: Mr Eric Stewart, President, and Ms Jennifer Wanandi, Vice President of the American-Lithuanian Business Council; Ms Ieva Matulaitiene, Franchise Operations Manager Baltics, and Ms Nele Normak, Public Affairs & Communication Manager, Coca-Cola Baltic Beverages; Mr John Lazar, Regional Vice President,  and Mr Paul Strebel, Regional Director, Europe, Oshkosh Defense; Mr Jeff Nelson, Vice President, and Mr Mantas Paškevičius, Country Manager, Strategic Staffing Solutions; Mr Bear Midkiff, Director, Business Operations, Europe, and Mr Michael Hahn, Business Development Director, Textron Systems; Mr Tim Fenton and Mr Tony Smith, Vice Presidents, and Algimantas Markauskas, Vice President, Baltics,  Thermo Fisher Scientific; Mr Lenny Alugas, Senior Vice President, Western Union, and Mr Šarūnas Šuipis, Director, Global Operations, EUROC.

 

 

Dalia Vencevičienė, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 2396016,

mob. +370698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]