The shape of the main railway line is becoming visible in the Jonava district in Lithuania – a railway track and engineering structures are being built on a section of almost 30 km. Some of the engineering structures, such as animal crossings and one of the tunnels, are almost complete.

On 5-8 March, the Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Aušrinė Armonaitė, is paying a working visit to New York, where she will open the North American-Lithuanian Business Forum ("NAALBF"). It will bring together nearly 300 representatives of Lithuanian and US companies. The Minister will also meet with potential US investors to discuss opportunities to expand their operations in Lithuania.

Early Tuesday, negotiators from Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on new rules that ban products made with forced labour from the EU market.

The Ministry of Finance has prepared the draft amendments to the Law on Excise Duty, which propose to introduce new excise duty rates on alcohol and tobacco and alternative products in 2025–2027. After three years, the State budget revenue is expected to increase by about EUR 126.7 million, thus maintaining a relatively stable excise share in the structure of tax revenue.

On 23-24 February, Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė participated in the informal meetings of the Eurogroup (EG) and the Council of Finance Ministers of the European Union (EU) (ECOFIN) in Ghent (Belgium). The meetings focused on the discussion of the economic situation of the euro area, the deepening of the EU capital markets, issues of European competitiveness and the discussion of the strategic directions of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

While participating in the EUROFI forum discussion in Ghent (Belgium), Vice-Minister of Finance Mindaugas Liutvinskas emphasized that the creation of the European Union (EU) capital market must remain among the priorities of the European agenda. A developed and efficiently functioning single capital market would create additional sources of financing for businesses and investment opportunities for residents. This would contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the EU economy and mobilize funds for strategic goals such as the green transition.

The Commission is investing over €233 million in twelve new Strategic Projects across Europe under the LIFE programme to support the implementation of the EU's environmental and climate ambitions under the European Green Deal. These Strategic Projects are expected to mobilise substantial additional funds from other EU sources, including agricultural, structural, regional and research funds, as well as from national governments and private sector investment.

Lithuanian Airports announces that from October 2024, direct scheduled flights between Vilnius Airport (VNO) and Dubai Airport (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start with flydubai, an airline that will start operations in Lithuania. These flights are planned to operate three times a week from the upcoming winter season.

The distribution of the seventh issue Government savings notes (GSN) ended on Monday, where residents purchased GSN for EUR 4.3 million and 355 transactions were made. Residents will be paid 3.5 per cent of annual interest on this new one-year GSN issue.

Investments and active participation of Japanese companies in the development of the Port of Klaipėda and other transport infrastructure projects in the region would significantly contribute to enhancing the connectivity in the Three Seas - the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas – region. It would also help to diversify the transport systems and to apply innovative technologies. This invitation has been presented today by the Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis at an event organised by Lithuania to present the Three Seas Initiative in the Japanese capital Tokyo.