News

On November 14-15 delegation of the Japanese business confederation Keidanren visited Vilnius. Representatives of 14 companies, including Hitachi, Mitsubishi, MUFG, Sumitomo, TEPCO, Japan Airlines and others traveled through the Baltic States with this business mission.

The delegation met with Lithuanian President G. Nausėda and discussed the outcome of his recent visit to Japan and the prospects for future cooperation. The President emphasized that Lithuania is very attractive for foreign direct investment in the sectors of ICT, cyber security, life sciences, transport and logistics, manufacturing and energy due to ongoing major projects, developed business services, talented employees and geographical location.

Keidanren representatives met with Chancellor of Government of Lithuania A. Stončaitis to discuss bilateral trade, which increased almost 10 times since 2010. The Chancellor introduced the announcement of the year 2020 in Lithuania as the year of Sugihara.

Minister of Energy Ž. Vaičiūnas presented the guests with strategic Lithuanian energy projects and discussed possibilities to cooperate with Japan in their implementation. Practical examples of partnerships are already in place - the Baltic energy network operators, together with Japan's TEPCO, will conduct a joint feasibility study on the implementation of future technical solutions in the power grid synchronization project. Other major Japanese companies are as well invited to take part in the synchronization project. This meeting is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in Tokyo in October to strengthen bilateral energy relations.

During the delegation’s meeting with the Minister of Transport and Communications J. Narkevičius, the most important Lithuanian transport projects were presented – Rail Baltica, Via Baltica, and Klaipeda Seaport development. Japanese businesses were invited to actively participate in these projects. Lithuanian experience in logistics business and possibilities to cooperate with Japanese companies were discussed as well.

During the meeting with the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, further possibilities for cooperation between the Confederation and Keidanren were discussed. According to Confederation’s President R. Dargis, only close partnerships between business organizations or individual companies can counterbalance the economic and political instability now prevailing in the world. Especially now, that the economic partnership agreement has been reached between the European Union and Japan, which opens up huge opportunities for Lithuanian companies to expand their trade in Japan.

During the visit to the Bank of Lithuania, the delegation was introduced to Lithuania's progress in the field of fintech, flexible licensing options for financial services, and technical fintech solutions that could be relevant to Japanese businesses.