VILNIUS - President Valdas Adamkus said that Lithuania needed to do more to attract foreign capital and investment.
"Free trade and openness should be considered one of the prime political targets for the country," Adamkus told a roundtable discussion on the country's post-EU accession foreign trade policy.
Adamkus emphasized the importance of setting clear priorities and utilizing available possibilities rather than looking back and opposing progress.
The president is convinced that some of the country's economic problems became evident in 2007, which was marked by record-high inflation.
In his opinion, an "economic exclusiveness" is responsible for creating the breeding-ground for higher prices than could be expected in an open economy and for impeding essential economic reform processes.
Adamkus notes that the recent years, especially those following 2004, when Lithuania joined the European Union, will be known as "famine years" in terms of reforms.
The president believes that one of the factors keeping the country from progressing is a lack of an open-minded approach among policy-makers and businessmen. He said an open economy and society-at-large would greatly contribute to internal reforms, which are key to the public welfare and the competitive ability of the Baltic state's economy.
