"Vilnius has not yet used the whole potential of cooperation with Azerbaijan" President of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists hosted by Caliber.Az

The Azerbaijani-Lithuanian business forum held in Baku on May 18 was attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Lithuania. A number of documents were signed as a result of the forum.

In order to assess the current state and prospects of development of Lithuanian-Azerbaijani relations in the actual international situation, Caliber.Az addressed questions to the president of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists Vidmantas Janulevičius.

Janulevičius noted that the delegation of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists visited Azerbaijan as part of the governmental delegation together with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

"We see great potential for economic cooperation. Azerbaijan in the current conditions is one of the most important links between Europe and Asia. The country is strengthening its role in the world market, creating opportunities for business development, which makes it an attractive trade partner for Lithuania.

The forum in Baku discussed cooperation in the fields of high technology, information technology, food industry, logistics, and renewable energy. A Memorandum of Understanding for the promotion of trade cooperation between the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists and Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) as well as an Agreement on cooperation with the National Confederation of Business Organizations (Employers) of Azerbaijan was signed during the event. In the current era of rapid technological change, all business lives in global competition and already competes not with other regions but with entire continents. Close cooperation of business organizations or individual companies between partners with a long history of cooperation is of particular importance.

The current geopolitical situation poses many challenges to business, therefore diversification of energy resources and searches for new export markets and logistics routes is not just a challenge for many companies, but also a new opportunity", the president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists said.

According to him, Lithuanian companies see great export prospects in the following sectors: food (meat, fish, milk, vegetables, sugar, confectionery, cocoa products, drinks, etc.); printing, publishing; furniture, wood; electrical machinery; metalworking; transport, IT, financial services.

"We hope that Azerbaijani business will also discover and use opportunities in Lithuania. We can offer our future business partners free economic zones, one of the most developed digital infrastructures in Europe, a developed transport and logistics industry, the ice-free port of Klaipeda, as well as a highly educated workforce and a broad and diversified agricultural sector. Lithuania's level of development has grown at an unprecedented rate in the last couple of decades, and we are well acquainted with the functioning of the EU internal market. I believe that Lithuania can serve as a springboard or a gateway for Azerbaijani business to the EU market. The conditions for investments in Lithuania are improving every year. Information technology parks, free economic zones really do open great opportunities for Azerbaijani business, the more so because due attention will always be paid to such investments by our state structures", our interlocutor said.

Janulevičius believes that raw materials account for the biggest share of Azerbaijan's exports: "Therefore, Baku will gain more by exporting already finished products made of these raw materials, which opens a wide field for joint work of our companies in terms of development of new products".

He went on to add that rising energy costs and the war in Ukraine have prompted European countries to look for opportunities to diversify their energy sources.

"We see Azerbaijan as a reliable partner in the energy sector, so we are interested in stepping up cooperation. Lithuania could offer renewable energy solutions to Azerbaijan, especially solar energy. In this field, Lithuanian companies can offer their latest technological solutions and experience. We see great prospects in Azerbaijan for the development of solar agro-energy and greenhouse projects. We need to pay special attention to the development of agricultural power supply systems, agricultural solar parks, and green ports. Here we can really offer not only Lithuanian-made modules, but also experience, knowledge, and available technologies.

Obviously, so far Lithuania has not used all the potential of cooperation with Azerbaijan. Your country is indeed a big market for our business, and I hope that our business relations and export volumes to Azerbaijan will only grow in the future", said Janulevičius.

According to the head of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists, cooperation in the field of logistics and transport is very important for the development of economic relations and improvement of communication between the two countries.

"Lithuanian railroads and the port of Klaipeda could provide unimpeded cargo transportation from Azerbaijan and become a gateway to the South Caucasus region for Europe. We hope that in the future passenger transportation by buses and cargoes between Lithuania and Azerbaijan through the territory of these countries as well as to and from third countries will be developed. In modern geopolitical conditions the development of the trans-Caspian railway corridor, connecting China, Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Western Europe, and Scandinavian countries is especially promising. The Rail Baltica European gauge railway line, which is being built through the Baltic states, also offers new opportunities - regular cargo flows are already going from the Kaunas intermodal terminal to the Benelux countries and North-Western Germany. This year it is planned to open a new direction to Northern Italy," Janulevičius concluded.