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This year marks the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China. K. M. Rehan Salahuddin, a freelancer and contributor to China.org.cn, spoke with Lithuanian Ambassador Lina Antanavičienė about the bilateral ties in Beijing on September 28.

Antanavičienė: The Chinese knew about Lithuania even before the Expo. Today they know even more. The truth is that the new generation may know Lithuania from one angle, while the old generation may know it from another.

Today Lithuania is known as a modern independent North European country, member of the European Union, integral part of a common EU market and also active and responsible member of the international community. Lithuania is a safe, green and clean country…. We have long history and rich culture that we are proud of. Our old cities with unique architecture as well as our internationally recognized resorts are perfect tourism destinations.

At the Expo people saw different facts about Lithuania. The Chinese found that we are open-minded, friendly people, crazy about basketball and fishing; that we love good beer and we eat a lot of potatoes. We fly hot air balloons, but not only that, we have international airports, we are biggest transport hub in the Baltics, we have the speediest Internet in the world and many more interesting things to discover. …

S: Bilateral trade between China and Lithuania increased 27 times from 2000 to 2008, followed by a steady growth of nearly 20 to 25 percent in recent years. Is Lithuania willing to be the trade and investment hub of China in the Baltic Region?

A: Lithuania is a very open economy. Open for every fair business activities. We have history of steadily growing economic relations with China our trade turnover is the biggest among Baltic countries.

We are very much happy with the dynamics, but we understand that there are huge untapped possibilities for our cooperation with China.

Lithuanian imports from China consist of 2.5 percent of our total import, while exports to China are only 0.1 percent. The growth of our exports to China is impressive last year our exports increased by more than 30 percent, but the amount is still not big.

We are on a very good track to boost cooperation between Lithuania and China. Lithuanian ministers of foreign affairs and economy and agriculture visited not only Beijing, but also Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hefei. The number of visits demonstrates that the Lithuanian government is very serious about working with China. It is a clear political message that we are willing to cooperate with China.

All three ministers were followed by business delegations it shows that our businesses are serious in their intentions as well…

Such visits clearly show that we are interested in becoming a more serious trade partner for China, especially when it comes to our exports. We need to balance our trade. We are interested in Chinese investment, especially those in hi-tech sectors.

S: What are major features of a foreign investment policy that may attract investment by Chinese companies in Lithuania?

A: Every investor coming to Lithuania will receive an International business presence in the EU market, excellent infrastructure and communications network, high operational quality at a competitive price, financial and non-financial support from the government and fiscal incentives for business.

Convenient transportation Lithuania is the prime transport center in the region linking the EU with the East. Well-educated multilingual labor pool and modern knowledge society 13 of the 20 largest IT companies in the Baltics are based in Lithuania.

In the middle of this year Ernst & Young released its European Attractiveness Survey. It reflects Europe’s real attractiveness for foreign direct investment. Lithuania was named the most attractive country for international companies looking to invest in the region.

According to the World Economic Freedom Rating carried out annually by Fraser Institute Canada, this year Lithuania moved up to 24th in terms of overall level of economic freedom among 141 countries. …

Lithuania stands among the top five EU member states with the best multilingual skills. Forty percent of our population can speak at least two foreign languages.

S: Could you enlighten on the areas of cooperation between the countries that may lead to a step up in bilateral trade?

A: Transport and logistics we have good geographical position, excellent infrastructure, well-developed communications networks, two international transport corridors crossing Lithuania. We have an ice-free port and international logistic centers. More than 6,000 companies work today in the T&L sector, which creates nearly 13 percent of our GDP.

Others include shared services and business process outsourcing, plastics industry, laser technologies, metal processing and machinery, furniture and wood processing and food industry. …

S: What about education? Is there any cooperation between Chinese and Lithuanian Universities to let the countries exchange students for higher education?

A: There is an agreement on cultural exchange signed between Lithuania and China in 1993. According to it, every year Lithuania and China can exchange scholarships. There are possibilities to receive different scholarships for short-term studies in all fields of studies in Lithuanian universities, research scholarships for lecturers and researchers, scholarships for attending Lithuanian language summer courses.

Lithuanian Universities participate in the Beijing Education Fair every spring and let the Chinese know about the possibilities of going to Lithuania for study.

Now we're looking forward to more intense cultural cooperation. We made the first successful steps in working together with the Academy of Art & Design of Tsinghua University. I hope we will have more common projects between Tsinghua and Lithuanian National Art Academy.

Vilnius University of Lithuania and Liaoning University of China have a very good cooperation. This year we established a Confucius Institute in Vilnius.

We cooperate with Beijing Foreign Studies University, and they are offering Lithuanian language courses for Chinese students. The courses are taught by a Lithuanian native speaker and the students are learning very fast.

S: China and Lithuania are enjoying a long-term friendship, which deepens every day. Would you please say a few words to the Chinese on the 20th anniversary of bilateral relations?

A: Let me express hope that relations between our two countries and people will continue to be as harmonious and prosperous as they have been during past 20 years. We must use the full potential of our bilateral relationship for the well-being of our people. We need to further maintain open cooperation based on mutual respect and trust. Let me wish the Chinese people strength, wisdom, prosperity and good health.

By K. M. Rehan Salahuddin