Business Opportunities Mission
Vilnius, Lithuania
November 17-18, 1998
MISSION DESCRIPTION
US&FCS Stockholm will coordinate, organize, recruit, and manage a two-day Business Opportunities Mission to Vilnius, Lithuania, November 17-18, 1998, with support from US&FCS Helsinki, American Embassy Vilnius, and the American Chambers of Commerce in Sweden and Lithuania. Participants will spend a day and a half meeting with Lithuanian government leaders, business-related multiplier groups, and local business leaders. The second afternoon will be devoted to one-on-one and group meetings with the Lithuanian business community and site visits of commercial interest. The mission will include 15-20 U.S. company representatives responsible for their firm's corporate activities in the Baltic states.
COMMERCIAL SETTING
With a population of 3.8 million, Lithuania is a relatively small, but potentially attractive, market for U.S. imports. The largest of the three Baltic States, Lithuania also enjoys the highest GDP per capita among its neighbors. GDP increased approximately 5 % in 1997, and inflation was under 10% (a notable statistic given that inflation exceeded 1,000% in 1993). Strong evidence of the stability of the economy was provided by the positive credit ratings granted by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.
Most Lithuanian businesses were privatized during the first round of privatization. Private individuals, both local and foreign, are allowed to own land. It is believed that the second round of privatization, in which $725 million in state property will be sold for cash, is one of the potential major attractions for foreign investment this year. Lithuania is seeking to further liberalize its laws to assist in attracting foreign investment. The Lithuanian Government is following a cautious, Western-oriented program of economic reform in banking and monetary policy, price structure, tax laws, land ownership laws, fiscal policy and foreign trade legislation. It has also adopted modern laws establishing copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Lithuania has signed free trade agreements with 20 countries. In April 1994, a trilateral trade agreement among the three Baltic countries went into effect, abolishing all tariffs on industrial products.
Having regained independence after 50 years of occupation, Lithuania considers itself a recovering country, not a developing country. Many Lithuanians have a good education, values, and aspirations similar to those of middle class inhabitants of Western Europe, and they have worked hard to rebuild their shattered economy. As in other countries in the region, there are concerns about Government bureaucracy, corruption, and organized crime. However, very few U.S. companies doing business in Lithuania have found their problems insurmountable, in part due to the relatively easy access to senior government officials which international business enjoys.
MISSION GOALS
The mission will assist representatives of American companies responsible for business activity in the Baltic States in their efforts to identify profitable opportunities for their respective U.S. companies and to increase their export potential from the U.S. to Lithuania. In addition, it will mark the beginning of the development of an American-Lithuanian business network, such that, through the American Chambers in each country, private sector business leaders can strengthen their commercial relationships and work together with the U.S. Government's inter-agency A'Northern European Initiative.
MISSION SCENARIO
Participants will arrive in Vilnius on Monday evening, November 16. Tuesday morning, after an operational briefing by the mission organizers, the U.S. Embassy will present an overview of the Lithuanian and Northeastern European markets. During the course of the day, the mission will meet with representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Lithuanian Privatization Agency, the Lithuanian Small Business Administration, and other governmental and commercial organizations, as appropriate. On Wednesday, mission members will meet with the Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, the IMF, EBRD, and/or Baltic-American Enterprise Fund representatives in Lithuania. The mission organizers will set up individual appointments for participants with Lithuanian business leaders. While the mission hopes to attract senior-level executives, its primary objective is to develop a healthy dialogue at the working levels of both the public and private sectors.
OPERATIONAL SCHEDULE
August 21- First informational mailer (date saver) to D&B list of European headquarters of American firms and CS Stockholm=ðs subsidiaries list.
September 15- Follow-up mailing with organizational specifics and request for payment.
September 28- Phone campaign begins
October 12- Recruitment campaign ends
October 19- Begin preparation of appointment schedule in Vilnius
November 17-18- Trade Mission
CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION
Targeted mission participants are to be U.S. companies who have an interest in learning more about increasing exports from the U.S. to the Lithuanian and Northeastern European markets. There are neither restrictions nor anticipations regarding the status of the company, e.g. OTM, NTM, NTE, or SME. The following criteria will be evaluated in selecting participants:
CONTACT INFORMATION
Peter G. Frederick, Regional Senior Commercial Officer or
Karen Pilmanis, Principal Commercial Officer for Baltic Rim or
Tuula Javanainen, Baltic Rim Program Manager
Commercial Service, American Embassy
101 Strandvagen
115 89 Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone: 46-8-7835346
Fax: 46-8-6609181
e-mail: pfrederick@cs.doc.gov
kpilmanis@cs.doc.gov
tjavanainen@cs.doc.gov
Jonas Vasilevicius, Commercial Specialist
American Embassy
Akmenu 6
Vilnius 2600, Lithuania
Telephone: 370-2-222 779
Fax: 370-2-223 031
e-mail Jonas@usis.lt
U.S. Contact
Sam Kozloff, Associate Director for Europe