This autumn has been extremely successful in attracting major investors, bringing such global companies as Hollister and Continental to Kaunas region. And, this is not the end of the investment surge – many others, such as Dutch housing market data collection and analysis company GeoPhy, are discussing the possibilities of opening their branches in Kaunas.
A leading German automotive manufacturing company Continental who has signed the investment and cooperation agreement with Lithuanian Government just last week, has committed to invest 95 million euros into building of the new factory in Kaunas region. This will be the largest green field investment in recent years and one of the greatest in Lithuanian history. It is estimated that Continental will create around a thousand new jobs.
According to global investors, the convenient geographical location, favourable investment environment, well developed infrastructure and a pool of highly qualified professionals were among the reasons for choosing Kaunas.
The General Manager of Continental Automotive Lithuania Shayan Ali says that, although the specialists in Lithuania are not the cheapest, they are very qualified. “The availability of professionals is not the only criteria for us. We do consider knowledge and competencies, ambitions, education and English skills, as we are international company”, says Mr Ali.
KTU prepares much-needed professionals for the market
The representatives of the companies have announced that they are open for collaboration with Kaunas universities, and have already started discussing the cooperation possibilities. Lina Slavickaitė, Head of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Career and Education Centre says that around 900–1.000 young professionals graduate from informatics, electrical and electronics engineering and mechanical engineering studies every year.
“KTU is developing and sustaining close cooperation with Continental, Hollister, Hella Group, Kitron and other new companies in the market. We are certain that the arrival of the global corporations will increase the demand of professionals working in electrical and electronics, logistics, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, informatics and informatics engineering fields. The increase of the intake of the students in these fields is already noticeable”, says Ms Slavickaitė.
According to her, the students and graduates appreciate the proposals of the international investors as they usually create added value, including modern working space and state-of-the-art equipment.
“However, the students are mostly interested in the results of the company, its reputation and global orientation, as this allows to experience the international business culture, which the companies bring with them to Lithuania”, says Ms Slavickaitė.
KTU is offering more than 40 undergraduate and Master’s programmes in English. Among them is Informatics, Industrial Technology Management, Aviation Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Robotics, Production Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Biomedical Engineering and many others providing the most required skills for the job market.
