China, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Good for Business, Investments, Lithuania

One of the ten largest companies in this field and rapidly expanding all over the world, GRG Banking Equipment has chosen Vilnius as a springboard for its further expansion in Europe, writes LETA/ELTA.

The new Lithuania-based unit will provide equipment maintenance and ensure service quality control throughout Europe. Modern ATMs manufactured by the company are being used by customers in the financial sector in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

The company's European regional sales and development office will also operate in Vilnius. GRG Banking Equipment plans to build up a team of 50 sales managers, project managers, engineers and technical support specialists within a few years.

"Lithuania has been discovered not only by its closest neighbours but also high-tech companies from the rapidly developing Asian markets. This highlights the positive role played by the Lithuanian diaspora situated throughout the world," says Milda Darguzaite, Managing Director of Invest Lithuania.

Eduardas Vaigauskas, a Lithuanian in charge of GRG Banking Equipment's foreign development projects, who left for China to work at the local office a few years ago, drew the attention of the company's top management to Lithuania's strategically convenient location.

"Knowledge of regional languages, markets and culture is important to the success of a sales office, and Lithuania has a great talent pool for this kind of work. The cost of deploying a technical support specialist from Vilnius to another European city is quite small, and the entire continent is accessible within two or three hours from Lithuania. In Germany it can take that long to get from one point to another in the same city," Pranas Griskevicius, Director of GRG Banking Equipment (HK) Europe, said.

GRG Banking Equipment Co., which has delivered about 90,000 ATMs to over 70 countries all over the world, is China's largest and one of the world's largest companies operating in this field. The company's rapid growth is evident from its surge in annual income of 240% in 2011.