German SMEs stake out opportunities in Lithuania

VILNIUS - It was a dreary day - overcast with occasional showers - but the weather didn't dampen the jovial mood of 13 German owners of small and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) as they arrived in Vilnius to gauge the business atmosphere of the country.

The 13 emissaries were representatives from Germany's business sector. Thanks to a robust and healthy commercial relationship with Lithuania, many German businesses are avidly turning their eyes to the east.

The German participants come from a variety of business spheres: horticulture, construction, real estate, and dental clinic equipment are just a few examples. With help from the Lithuanian Development Agency, Germany's Nord Landesbank and a German organization for SMEs, the business owners were on the lookout for potential joint ventures.

"I find the business partnership I established with a Lithuanian to be quite good," said Werner Luebbe, who began working with a Lithuanian four years ago in the business of transporting wood. "There is an honest quality to the business here."

Such partnerships are not only seen as valuable for German and Lithuanian businesses, but on a bigger economic scale as well. Willi Heineking, a member of the Lower Saxony parliament, also participated in the excursion. According to Heineking, 80 percent of Germans are employed by SMEs.

"Many apprentices from school are supported by small and medium sized businesses, and most young people are employed by such enterprises," said Heineking.

It also appears that Lithuania is looking westward towards Germany. While Russia still ranks first in total volume of commercial exchange with Lithuania, Germany is first among countries in the West, according to Ulrich Sante, charge d'affaires at the German Embassy in Vilnius.

"This exchange volume has doubled within three years, from 1.3 billion DM ($2.3 billion) three years ago to 1.8 billion DM the next year, and then to 2.5 billion DM," said Sante.

Sante stated that the top export from Germany to Lithuania is automobiles, which make up 26 percent of the goods coming from Germany. Lithuania's biggest export to Germany is textiles, which make up 42 percent of their total.

Perhaps the growing trade and commercial cooperation between the two countries is influencing the Lithuanians' opinion of Germany. In a recent poll printed in the weekly magazineVeidas, Germany got the top vote as the country Lithuanians considered most friendly to them. Of the 500 people surveyed, 31.3 percent named Germany. Not only did the countries that are geographically closest to Lithuania fail to achieve a high ranking, but appeared on the flip-side of the poll. Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Poland and Latvia, in that order, were the countries considered the most unfriendly by the Lithuanians surveyed.

The visitors from Germany stated that they considered all the Baltic states important and were not snubbing the other two states by coming to Lithuania. It was mentioned, however, that opportunities in Lithuania's larger market added to its attractiveness.