The Prime Minister welcomed the ever closer political, economic and cultural ties between Lithuania and Israel.
“I can firmly state that Israel is our strategic partner, valued both in terms of our bilateral relations and the EU agenda. We also see great potential for strengthening of our economic cooperation. There is a great potential in mutual trade and investments in traditional industries and high value-added sectors”, said Saulius Skvernelis.
According to the Prime Minister, Lithuania is particularly interested in cooperation with Israel in the field of innovations. Israel is among the world leaders in this field and Lithuania is therefore interested in sharing experience with the country. The Prime Minister invited the Israeli businesses to explore business opportunities in Lithuania, pointing out the readiness to offer tailor-made individual conditions for each Israeli investor.
Two dozen Lithuanian companies are hoping to establish contacts in the fields of digital technology, cyber security and life sciences in the realms of the Forum. In 2017, Israel was 40th among all Lithuanian trading partners by the overall export of goods.
According to the analysts of the Enterprise Lithuania, January-September 2018 account for EUR 28.5 million in exports of goods of Lithuanian origin to Israel. The majority of them include pharmaceutical products (17.6 % of the overall Lithuanian exports), furniture (14.8 %), various food products (12.2 %), wood and articles thereof (10.3 %), optics, photography, cinematographic, measurement, control, medical, surgical instruments (9 %).
The exports of services to Israel were 52 per cent up over the past nine months on the same period last year, thus making EUR 18.7 million. This growth is mainly related to export growth in IT, transport and other business services. The largest export share in January-September 2018 was due to IT services (37 % of overall services exports) and travel services (27.1 %).
