Business leaders and investors say the previous government’s efforts to reduce bureaucracy have fallen short, while concerns persist that foreign investors enjoy more favourable conditions than domestic companies.
According to Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation Valdemaras Urban, the aim now is to level the playing field, with a stronger focus on attracting investment to the regions.
Business and investor representatives say that a bureaucracy-reduction initiative launched by previous governments and by Prime Minister Gintautas Palucko proved unsuccessful.
Now the task of cutting bureaucratic barriers is being taken up by Inga Ruginienė.
“We have agreed that in the near future we will tackle a couple of issues at a time in the field of reducing bureaucracy and try to move those problems forward very quickly. We gave an example: in Germany an export licence for lasers is issued within two weeks, in Switzerland within two days, while in Lithuania we have a case of five months,” says Rolandas Valiūnas, chairman of the board of Investor's Forum.
He also pointed to practical obstacles undermining Lithuania’s attractiveness, including connectivity issues such as the loss of direct flights between Vilnius and one of the world's key financial centres, the City of London.
According to Valiūnas, some foreign investors are wary of what they see as abrupt policy decisions and sharp political rhetoric, opting instead for countries like Finland or Poland, which they perceive as more predictable.
“Foreigners are sometimes wary of our various forms of radicalism – government steps, rapid decisions, sharp rhetoric. These things can occasionally alarm them and they choose another location where they feel more comfortable,” the Investor’s Forum chairman adds.
Another longstanding concern is the distribution of state aid. For years, investors have argued that foreign companies are more likely to receive government subsidies than local businesses.
Deputy minister Urban said future state support schemes would also include Lithuanian companies, particularly those investing outside major cities, where higher levels of aid are planned for projects that create jobs and bring significant capital investment.
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