Finnish investments generated more jobs in Lithuania than any other foreign investment in 2014. Finland made nearly 30 million euros worth of new direct investments last year, retaining its position from 2013 as the country’s eighth largest foreign investor. The most significant foreign investors in Lithuania were Cyprus, Latvia and Sweden. However, the direct investments made by Finland in 2014 generated the largest amount, at 20 per cent, of Lithuania’s new jobs created by direct foreign investments. In 2012, there were approximately 170 Finnish companies altogether in Lithuania, employing over 10,200 people. Most of the investment projects launched by Finns have been orient... More

One of the fastest growing Human Resources-focused event and learning companies, GlobalHRU, announces the transfer of all operations to Vilnius, Lithuania. GlobalHRU, owner and operator of global event concepts #HRU and HRTechTank, is moving to Lithuania, where it will centralize its technology development and event management  teams. The consolidated teams will launch the development of a social learning platform for human resources professionals and support GlobalHRU’s growing events operations. GlobalHRU’s Vilnius headquarters will be responsible for all back office operations, marketing, partnerships and technology. GlobalHRU is building a social learning platform to c... More

German enterprises are generally very satisfied with Lithuania as their investment location. 135 German companies, based in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, were interviewed for the survey by the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce (AHK Baltic States). In a regional comparison, the companies based in Lithuania assess the situation the most positive: 98 percent rate it either “good” or “satisfied”. In Estonia, it was 96 percent and in Latvia 88 percent. Economic development significantly better than the EU average 93 percent of the companies would choose Lithuania again as a foreign location. Lithuania has, among other things, the advantage of low personnel costs (ab... More

Lithuania’s shared services sector won in three major categories at the Central and Eastern Europe Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards. At the black tie event in Warsaw last Thursday, Kaunas won the award for “emerging” city of the year, Vilnius won best city of the year, and Barclays Technology Centre in Vilnius was crowned best service centre in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Lithuania featured heavily in this year’s awards, organised by leading Polish information portal Biznes Polska. Alongside the award winners, the short list of 27 nominations included six other companies from the Lithuanian shared services sector; Danske Bank, SEB, Western Union, Ahlstrom... More

The European Commission announced new measures to support innovative companies in Europe. There are mainly two initiatives: so-called FTI, with about €200 mln and SME Instrument with about €117 mln. Business in the Baltics shall be more innovative and active in acquiring EU funds. One initiative is a new €200 million Fast Track to Innovation initiative (FTI) launched on 9 January 2015 by the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas. This instrument will promote innovation by reducing the time it takes to bring innovative ideas to market.  Another initiative is oriented towards active business (so-called SME Instrument): the Commission announce... More