"The programme participants visited Lithuanian companies, the public sector, various organisations and innovative start-ups, which helped them to better understand the career opportunities in their home country. At the end of the programme, almost 80% of the participants had extended their summer internships in Lithuania, found volunteering opportunities, and almost all of them expressed a desire to return to Lithuania, while a few of them stayed to live in the country. This shows that the programme is very important not only for raising Lithuanian ambassadors, but also for encouraging foreign Lithuanians to return to Lithuania," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Seventeen young diaspora Lithuanians from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil and Ireland participated in the programme this year.
"If we want to raise young ambassadors of Lithuania, active Lithuanians from the diaspora, we need to give them the opportunity to get to know a modern, innovative Lithuania and the leaders who create it. This programme is precisely designed to attract young Lithuanians from the diaspora to visit the country of their ancestors. We aim to give young people from the Lithuanian diaspora the opportunity to acquire professional skills, learn about the Lithuanian business ecosystem, and get to know modern Lithuania," says Kamilė Perminė, the founder and Director of Bring Together Lithuania.
During the visit, A. Armonaitė met with the young people and introduced them to economic policy, the start-up ecosystem and career prospects in their home country. The Lithuanian diaspora also met with the President Gitanas Nausėda, Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilyte-Nielsen and representatives of the Global Lithuania Department.
The foreign Lithuanians visited Lithuanian companies and organisations, went to companies operating in Kaunas and Klaipėda LEZs, and travelled around the Dzūkija region, Merkinė and Trakai.
"The programme exceeded my expectations - I had the opportunity to do an internship and get to know Lithuania at the same time. I had the honour to work with the start-up DIO. The startup ecosystem in the co-working space is completely different than I imagined before I came to Lithuania: no matter what company a person represents, everyone works together, collaborates and helps each other. I think it would be interesting to create my own startup in Lithuania in the future," says Kajus Buikus, a Lithuanian-American, who did his internship this year at the startup DIO.
This is the sixth year of the Bring Together Lithuania programme providing opportunities to acquire professional skills and explore contemporary Lithuania. Bring Together Lithuania is initiated and sponsored by the Kazickas Family Foundation and supported by the US-based Lithuanian Foundation. For the second year running, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation is funding activities organised for interns in Lithuanian companies.
