Israel, Lithuania seek cooperation

VILNIUS - At a news conference on June 18, the Lithuanian and Israeli governments announced that they would seek closer economic ties. The announcement comes on the heels of a visit by a high-level delegation from Israel to Vilnius.

It was the first ever consultations of its kind between the two nations and has led to free-trade negotiations due to begin next month. Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuania's deputy foreign minister, told reporters that the two countries were intent on signing an agreement in the very near future. "Lithuania will try to sign an agreement as soon as possible to make use of the time left before our entry into the European Union because we and Israel both have free-trade agreements with the EU," she said.

Viktor Harel, deputy general director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and head of the delegation to Vilnius, believes that the relationship between Lithuania and Israel should focus on business.

"We concentrated our efforts today on economic issues because we believe that it's best for both our societies," he said.

Harel said that although current figures on bilateral cooperation were not wonderful, he felt that the potential for expanding business ties existed. "Our business communities don't really know much about each other," Harel said, "If we start negotiations on a free-trade deal very soon, probably next month, then we will be sending a signal to both private sectors that the two countries mean business."

Inevitably, two controversial issues came up: anti-Semitism in Lithuania and the restoration of property to pre-World War II Jewish owners. Harel explained that the issues were touched on in the meetings and that he was confident that the Lithuanian government understood them.

He added that he believed it wouldn't have any affect on economic cooperation.

Grybauskaite echoed Harel's comments about lackluster economic activity between Lithuania and Israel. She stated that trade between the two countries only amounted to $10 million. According to Grybauskaite, Israel hasn't invested much in Lithuania.

Harel agreed but said that the situation would change significantly after a trade deal.

"We hope that after the formation of a deal we will see more interest in Lithuania and a much larger presence by our private sector," he said.

Grybauskaite added that there has only been one concluded economic agreement between the countries on encouraging and protecting investments.

This week's consultations also renewed negotiations on a 1996 transportation agreement that was never ratified by Lithuania's Finance Ministry because of certain clauses on taxation.

Cooperation in information sciences and health care were also discussed at the meetings. Agreements were previously signed on both issues. A deal on cooperation between the Health Care ministries of Lithuania and Israel was signed in 1995. A deal on information sciences was signed some years ago but never ratified by the Israel's Parliament.