Higher wages won't be key factor in stemming emigration

VILNIUS  - Lithuanian politicians say that higher wages may stop Lithuanians from leaving their country, but businesses argue that such steps as revamping the education and tax systems and cutting back on the state bureaucracy might put emigration on a declining patch, the business daily Verslo Zinios reported on Thursday.

"I think the issue is looked at from a wrong perspective. As if we were the guilty ones and those others are the anointed ones and we must bring them back and create special conditions for them. I find this unacceptable. Let's speak about what we can do to make life in Lithuania good, not about bringing emigrants back," Aidas Setikas, CEO of the electronic system design and manufacturing company Rifas, told the paper.

"The value-added created in Lithuania is 30 percent lower than that in enterprises of a similar profile in Germany. The Germans create products. They are the owners of products. We do not have products. We are only part of some chain of supply. And we will be lagging behind until this changes," he said.

Other business people interviewed by the paper said that what should be done first is to streamline the education and tax systems and to reduce the bureaucracy, noting that wages cannot be suddenly raised for all workers and in all sectors.