Monday, July 2, Vilnius – President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the honorary consuls of Lithuania who came to Vilnius for their seventh traditional meeting.
This year, the convention has gathered 153 honorary consuls from 68 countries of the world – the largest number of participants ever. Lithuania has 220 honorary consuls in 94 countries.
The meeting focused on the geopolitical situation, security matters, energy independence, threats posed by Russia, global economic tendencies, and the challenges facing Europe. Dalia Grybauskaitė thanked the honorary consuls for their efforts to present Lithuania's position on key issues, strengthen bilateral business and cultural ties with foreign nations and for their contribution to promoting Lithuania and the achievements of its people around the world.
According to the President, the role played by honorary consuls is of particular importance this year when Lithuania celebrates the centennial of the restoration of its statehood. To mark the jubilee anniversary, global exhibitions of Lithuanian artists and their works have been opened in Paris and Rome. New opportunities for cooperation in energy and business were introduced in Washington. Lithuania's cultural and business events are held in many different foreign countries throughout the year.
The President invited honorary consuls to actively participate in the process of attracting foreign investment to Lithuania, especially in such promising areas as innovation, IT and communications, FinTech and biotechnologies. Lithuania is emerging as a hub of biotechnologies; the sector of financial technologies has expanded twofold over the last two years; mobile applications TRAFI and DEEPER, created by Lithuanian startups, have gained global popularity.
This year, Lithuania joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Membership in this influential club of world economies will increase Lithuania's attractiveness to foreign investors, promote transparent, effectively managed and innovation-orientated economy, improve business conditions and the protection of investment. In recent years, Lithuania has been discovered by the well-known automotive electronic parts manufacturers Hella and Continental as well as the global digital travel leader Booking.com.
The President also thanked the honorary consuls for helping Lithuanian citizens who are in trouble or difficulty in a foreign country and for their support in dealing with consular issues.