Foreign cash flowing in fast

Foreign direct investments in Lithuania grew by 23.7 percent in 2002 and reached 13.18 billion litas (3.82 billion euros) as of Jan. 1, 2003.

FDI per capita amounted to 3,808 litas as of early 2003, a rise of nearly 740 litas over the year, according to preliminary data released by the statistics department. This was one of the highest FDI annual growth rates recorded in recent years.

Last year, major investors in Lithuania included Denmark (2.2 billion litas, or 17.2 percent of total foreign investments), Sweden (2.1 billion litas, or 15.3 percent), Estonia (1.5 billion litas, or 11.7 percent), Germany (1.2 billion litas, or 9.6 percent) and the United States (1.1 billion litas, or 8.7 percent).

The manufacturing sector attracted 29.3 percent of total FDI. In 2002 some 20.1 percent of FDI went toward the financial intermediation sector, 17.3 percent into trade and 13.9 percent into communication services.