On Wednesday, Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Aušrinė Armonaitė, met with the leaders of the Irish company Clon Bio Group and introduced them to the advantages of our country that can be used by large foreign investors. The Irish company presented to the Minister the possibility of investing up to EUR 250 million in a plant protein factory in Lithuania.

In order to strengthen the representation of Lithuania's economic interests in Poland, which is one of Lithuania's priority markets for exports and innovation cooperation, Tomašas Pozlevičius has taken up the post of Commercial Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Poland.

The European Commission today has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €14.28 million measure to support Lietuvos Oro Uostai, the operator of Vilnius airport.

On 11 January, during an official visit to the Republic of Korea, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis met with Dr Cheollae Roh at Samsung Display and other company representatives. Landsbergis invited them to come to Lithuania and to get acquainted with local laser companies and their products in more detail, as well as with possible valuable offers for cooperation.

Despite a slow start, 2022 was a year of extremely high activity at Lithuanian airports, with 5.35 million passengers handled, twice as many as in 2021, with nearly 2.47 million passengers handled. The airports also operated almost 51,000 flights, which is almost 48% more than the previous year. The aviation sector is said to have not only recovered last year but also entered a growth phase.

Lithuania earned the highest ranking of “Innovation Champion” at the International Innovation Scoreboard in CES 2023, one of the world's largest technology trade fairs in Las Vegas. Together with 23 other countries, our country has been awarded the highest honour in this field.

The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, together with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, brings together the strongest science and business sectors to tackle society's most pressing problems. A new funding tool to tackle problems important to the society is launched: a call for proposals was launched for mission-based science and innovation programmes. The €77.7 million funding will be distributed for missions in three areas: a safe and inclusive e-society, a smart and climate-neutral Lithuania, and innovations for improving health.

In three months, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has launched calls for almost €215 million out of the nearly €1 billion in financial support foreseen to strengthen the Lithuanian economy by the end of 2023. This accounts for about one fifth of the total amount planned.

The Government endorsed the proposal of the Ministry of Transport and Communications to ratify the Cape Town Convention, which will facilitate business conditions for Lithuanian aviation and increase the competitiveness of Lithuanian aviation companies in the global market, as well as attract aircraft management and aircraft leasing companies.

Lithuania will receive an additional investment of EUR 46 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to finance military mobility projects. This support will be granted for the reconstruction of two further sections of the highway Via Baltica from Marijampolė to the Polish border.