Lithuania has been working intensively to attract foreign investments to the country. A more business-friendly legal base is being prepared, free economic zones that are particularly favourable to foreign investments have been created, and the state is involved in implementing an investment promotion policy. Lithuania is attractive to investors because it provides the ideal environment for the set up of service and data centres. In recent years, Lithuania has managed to attract global giants such as Barclays and Western Union. Lithuania also promotes foreign investments in industry. Representatives of the Ministry of Economy often meet with the major global companies abroad and invite them to set up in Lithuania. Lithuania aims to appear on the business investment map and...

  Continuous innovation plays a central role in the future role of Lithuania’s economy and the country aspires to be the innovation centre of the North Baltic region. When promoting the creation and implementation of innovation, particular focus is placed on cooperation between business and science, protection of intellectual property, and clusterisation of innovative companies. In Lithuania, as elsewhere in the world, innovation is the key driver of economic growth enabling high added value to be created and ensuring economic development. The increasing innovativeness of the country’s companies improves Lithuania’s competitiveness not only on the domestic market but also in foreign markets.

Export is one of the most important guarantees of the country’s economic growth. It was the record growth in exports in 2010 that helped the country’s economy to recover after the global economic crisis. Although currently experiencing a slowdown in the export of goods and services, some positive signs of growth can be observed. In August 2011, total exports of goods was back up in the region of LTL 6 billion, and this was also a record month for the export of goods of Lithuanian origin, when the value of exports exceeded LTL 4 billion. In Q3 2011, compared to the same period in 2010, exports grew by 18.4%, when a new record of LTL 3.44 billion was achieved.

EU structural support funds represent significant assistance to the modernisation and development of Lithuania’s economy. During the 2007-2013 period, the Ministry of Economy administers the largest share of EU support among all institutions – LTL 5.826 billion. Support is allocated to the business, energy, scientific research and tourism sectors. EU funds are used to upgrade companies and the manufacturing sector, promote exports, create industrial parks, establish new product development and testing laboratories, renovate kindergartens and schools, reconstruct churches and manors, and build hotels, bicycle paths and ski runs.

The Ministry of Economy is responsible for formulating tourism, resort and resort area development policy in the country and implements the functions of international cooperation in the field of tourism. The main objectives are as follows: to identify tourism development priorities, to promote the development of competitive tourism products, to reduce seasonality in tourism, and to increase the number of tourists visiting our country.

Public procurement constitutes an important part of the Lithuanian economy. The total amount spent through these procedures is one tenth of the country’s gross domestic product, or one third of Lithuania’s national budget. Such procurement volumes show that public procurement is and will be a driving force behind the country’s entire economy; therefore, the objective of the Ministry of Economy as the authority shaping public procurement policy is to continuously improve the legal regulation of public procurement in order to ensure that public procurement is carried out by using funds allocated for this purpose in a transparent and rational manner.

State-owned enterprises operate in various economic areas that are of significance to Lithuania, namely, energy, communications, transport, etc. They generate a solid economic value and greatly contribute to the economic development of the entire country as well as the implementation of social and employment policy. Furthermore they are the property of the whole state, i.e. of all the taxpayers in Lithuania. The Ministry of Economy shapes and implements the reform of state-owned enterprises in Lithuania. The reform is aimed at ensuring the transparency and professionalism of state-owned enterprises as well as the highest possible quality of services provided to the public by these enterprises.