In his speech, the President welcomed the fruitful meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a couple of days ago, which is expected to boost economic cooperation between the two countries. According to the President, trade relations between Lithuania and Japan are gaining momentum, and Japan is particularly interested in the Lithuanian market. “Volume of bilateral trade between Lithuania and Japan increased ninefold since 2010”, the President said and wished the potential of economic relations to be further exploited, especially after Japan signed a free trade agreement with the EU.
The President emphasized the favorable business environment in Lithuania, a well-developed IT sector, logistics infrastructure, talent pool and invited Japanese companies to establish and expand their activities in our country. The President presented business areas where Lithuanian-Japanese cooperation is most active – information technologies, life sciences, manufacturing, energy, and laser technologies. Japan is one of the largest importers of laser technologies. The President highlighted that Lithuania could become a bridge for Japanese fintech companies seeking development in the EU.
Two important memoranda of cooperation on energy (between the Ministry of Energy of Lithuania and the Ministry of Economy of Japan) and ICT (between information technology associations) were signed between Lithuania and Japan.
The Energy Memorandum signed by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Isshu Sugawara and Minister of Energy Žygimantas Vaičiūnas attracted considerable interest and attention from the Japanese media.
The Energy Memorandum provides for the promotion of energy security and diversification of energy sources and supplies, increasing the security of power supply, further cooperation in the exchange of best practices on decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power plants and joint activities and projects in LNG supply, trade and renewable energy. Support for implementation of the Baltic synchronization project is also envisaged.
“The signing of the Energy Memorandum will open wider opportunities for cooperation in the liquefied natural gas and renewable energy sectors, as well as opportunities to attract investment in energy infrastructure. We will take another step towards energy efficiency, innovative energy accumulation and storage, and by sharing experience, we will develop the production and use of green energy to reduce the impact of climate change”, said the President.
The objectives of the ICT Memorandum are to share information by analyzing potential IT technology markets, strengthening trade missions, interinstitutional cooperation, and developing economic relations between Lithuania and Japan.
After the official opening of the forum, the President met with representatives of the Japan Business Federation Keidanren, Japanese companies Hitachi, Toshiba, and Tepco to present Lithuanian business ecosystems and Japanese businesses were invited to consider specific investment opportunities in Lithuania.
The forum was organized by the Japan Business Federation Keidanren, which brings together 1,600 members, including business companies, industry associations and regional economic organizations, as well as JETRO and Enterprise Lithuania. Invest Lithuania presented Lithuania’s attractiveness to investments. Three dozen Lithuanian companies representing food industry, manufacturing, transport, information technology, logistics, and laser industry took part at the event. Representatives from over 80 companies from Japan and Lithuania met and exchanged contacts at the forum.
