Baltic States – CIS, Good for Business, Investments, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Technology

"The main priorities and tasks for the agency this year are manufacturing projects. Efforts will also be made to attract more innovative and new technology projects," Economy Minister Evaldas Gustas said at a news conference on Wednesday.

According to him, Invest Lithuania last year attracted 31 new investment projects that will create more than 2,600 new jobs, based on preliminary estimates.

With a total of 31 new investment projects from the likes of Nasdaq, Uber and AIG brought to Lithuania, 2015 was a record breaking year for the foreign investment development agency Invest Lithuania. Whilst the number of projects attracted and jobs created increased by 20% and 50% respectively, the standout figure last year was the nearly fivefold jump in total capital investment (CAPEX), up from €30 million in 2014 to €144 million.

Mantas Katinas, managing director of Invest Lithuania, said that the Nordic countries, Britain and the United States were the biggest investors in Lithuania, but added that business relocations from countries to the east of Lithuania had been observed lately.

"Businesses in Belarus and Ukraine are not satisfied with the economic situation in these countries and they chose new directions. London is the most natural choice for them, but Vilnius is becoming an attractive location for them due to its proximity and ability to come to agreement," he said at the same news conference.

According to Katinas, two large IT companies, which are not being named at this stage, are expected to come to Lithuania in the first half of this year.