Lithuania enjoys FDI flows

VILNIUS - Twenty-eight foreign companies have invested over one billion euros and created nearly 5,300 new jobs in Lithuania in 2009, The Lithuanian Tribune reports, referring to figures recently published in the investment monitor database FDImarkets.com, reports news agency LETA. The database follows cross-border greenfield investments in all sectors and states around the globe. FDImarkets recorded a total of 35 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the country last year.
In 2009, most of

the FDI projects in Lithuania were launched by financial services companies (nine projects), food, drink and tobacco enterprises (four projects), IT companies, as well as metal processing and textile manufacturers (three projects each). By country, projects were Russian (seven projects), Finnish (five projects), Norwegian and U.S. (four each), as well as the UK (three projects) companies.

Managing Director of Invest Lithuania Mantas Nocius noted that despite the global recession, which also severely hit the Lithuanian market, Barclays Bank of the UK set up its world IT center in Vilnius, and the U.S. company Moog launched the development of its new medical devices production facility, regional service center and R&D center in Lithuania.
The U.S. company Computer Science Corporation (CSC) established its foreign customer care center in Vilnius, and Microsoft opened its innovation and training center at Kaunas University of Technology. Also, a number of new jobs were created in the newly built Ozas trade center.

Finally, six industrial FDI projects were successfully accomplished in different cities of Lithuania, e.g. Stansefabriken of Norway started production of metal and automotive parts in Ukmerge in northeast Lithuania, Spanish Cie Automotive began producing parts for electrical and petrol cars in Marijampole in southern Lithuania, and French Eurovia opened an asphalt-concrete plant near the capital Vilnius.

The Spanish Gruppo Sopena plans to launch an aluminum parts plant in Alytus Industrial Park.
From January-March of 2010, six foreign companies announced investments in Lithuania, including Barclays Bank, which is currently establishing its contact and data processing center at its already running IT center, as well as the Irish airline Ryanair, which is launching its first Central European operations base in Kaunas Airport this May.
FDImarkets.com counted 205 foreign companies which have invested 5.3 billion euros, creating 34,600 new jobs from 2005 - 2009 in Lithuania.