Vilnius is the most competitive capital in the Baltic States for attracting large foreign investors, according to Latvia’s head of investment promotion. During a presentation of the Colliers International market survey, Linda de Putane, head of investment promotion at the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, stated that the Latvian capital Riga is being outpaced by Vilnius due to its lack of quality office space. According to Ms de Putane “a major world-known Japanese electronics company opted not invest in Latvia last year.” She stated that the investor, which had been in talks with the Investment and Development Agency for nine months, pulled out because it was... More

A €7.5 million investment in a brand new production line is set to boost jobs and productivity at CIE LT Forge, a Spanish-capital company based in Marijampolė. The new line will help CIE LT Forge to triple the production capacity of crankshafts that it intends to supply to Audi, Renault and Volkswagen. The company, part of the CIE Automotive Group, plans to recruit 60 new employees, 20 percent of whom will be highly qualified vehicle engineering specialists, as a result of the new investment. Lithuania’s Minister for the Economy, Evaldas Gustas, noted that companies like CIE LT Forge play a key role in the Lithuanian regions, both economically and socially. “Production... More

In its latest innovation index, global data and media giant Bloomberg have ranked Lithuania top in the Baltics for innovation. Out of the 200 countries compared by Bloomberg’s analysts, Lithuania ranks 32nd overall. Its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia were ranked in 34th and 40th respectively. The Bloomberg Innovation Index is based on the evaluation of a range of key criteria. These include R&D efficiency, manufacturing added-value, productivity, high-tech density and researcher concentration. Bloomberg rated Lithuania in the top 10 globally for ‘tertiary efficiency’, a measure based on factors such as enrolment in higher education and the number of graduates... More

Just what we need, more killer apps. Add Lithuania to the list of countries that thinks it can house the next Silicon Valley. The largest of the three Baltic states, and the newest member of the euro, doesn’t have to look all that far for inspiration, however. After all, wasn’t Skype technology created a hop skip and a jump away in tiny Estonia? Why, yes of course, it was. Flush with cash from some successful Lithuanian techies, the locals have joined the global rat race of pitching better mouse ‘apps’ to venture capital. Some of them are actually getting heavyweight financial backing. New York venture capitalists are funding at least one of them. Insight V... More

The post-Soviet period was difficult for the Baltic states. Large sections of the country’s labour force and many young people emigrated. Those who spoke foreign languages and had made contacts in advance went to Europe. Others chose Russia. Nowadays, it is quite common to find people from the Baltic States working in large Russian IT companies. However, there are fewer and fewer Russians in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Frankly speaking, when I was invited to visit Lithuania in order to estimate its potential as a place to set up Russian businesses in Europe, I was surprised.  I could not imagine that a country that had closed almost all its plants and factories, and had become ... More