VILNIUS - The intensity of Lithuania's scientific research and development falls below the EU average, showed a European Research and Innovation Area development report, presented by the European Commission on July 19.
What's more, research and development intensity in the EU lags far behind that of the United States and Japan, the report shows. In 2003, expenditure in this area made up 1.93 percent of GDP in EU countries, as compared with 2.59 percent of GDP in the United States and 3.15 percent in Japan.
According to the European Commission, Lithuania's figure accounts for 0.68 percent of GDP 's falling far below the EU average. However, the Baltic state is among countries where research and development expenditure is rapidly increasing.
The business sector is the main source of funding, since it promotes employment and economic growth in other areas. In 2002, the business sector financed 55.6 percent of national research and development expenditure in the EU.
In Lithuania, the government remains the main source of research and development funding, financing 65.1 percent of total expenditure. Business research and development expenditure, which accounted for only 0.14 percent of GDP in 2003, increases by almost one-third every year.
But the country's situation isn't all bad. Lithuania leads the EU in terms of business funding for research and development in the field of higher education 's 17 percent (6.6 percent in the EU, 4.5 percent in the United States, and 2.6 percent in Japan).
