“Business relations between the two countries are gaining momentum. Japan is Lithuania’s most important political and economic partner in Asia, so it is not surprising that we see huge interest from Japanese companies in Lithuania. A favorable business environment, leadership in life sciences and financial technologies, as well as strategic energy and transport projects, drive the growing interest of Japanese companies”, said the President.
During the meeting with executives of world-renowned Japanese companies, the President emphasized that Lithuania is very attractive for foreign direct investments in ICT, cybersecurity, life sciences and energy sectors due to implemented projects, well-developed services, a pool of talented employees and geographical location.
The economic partnership agreement reached between the European Union and Japan this year will provide an impetus to expand trade. It is the largest EU free trade agreement accounting for nearly a third of global GDP. According to the President, Lithuania is prepared to become Japan’s gateway to the EU market. Our country is already a regional Fintech hub, the legal environment of Lithuania has been recognized by both startups and global Fintech companies and their rapid development in Lithuania confirm this.
Lithuania also implements major energy and infrastructure projects of Community interest, which offer great opportunities for Japanese companies. The memorandum of cooperation signed in October between Lithuania and Japan allows Japanese businesses to cooperate more actively in a strategic synchronization project of importance for the entire EU. The President underlined that this was an important step for Lithuania towards full energy independence and invited Japanese companies to share their best practices in power system management as well as new and innovative solutions for power generation and storage.
The President also invited Japanese companies to use the Lithuanian transport and logistics supply chain and participate in the construction of infrastructure. Lithuania may provide multimodal opportunities by railway, road and seaport facilities as well as logistics services for cargo.
Strengthening economic diplomacy to open new markets and attract foreign investments to Lithuania is one of the President’s foreign policy priorities. Japan is the third-largest economy in the world (after the US and China) and actively develops its foreign investments.
The meeting is a response to the President’s visit to Japan, where he opened a Lithuanian-Japanese business forum in October and met with the management of Keidanren and companies of the federation. This business mission to the Baltics brings executives from 14 companies, including Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, TEPCO, Hitachi, Japan Airlines and others.
Today the President participated in a debate on the challenges and opportunities of the Baltic power grid synchronization project. Members of the Seimas, the Government, ministries, electricity suppliers, business associations and companies, economists and other energy experts attended the event.
