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On 10 September Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas welcomed heads of Lithuanian diplomatic representations who gathered at the annual meeting in Vilnius. The meeting started with the conference “Competitiveness of Lithuania” organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We perfectly understand the necessity to become a competitive state. However, the present level and tendencies of competitiveness of Lithuania force us to act rather than to think. If we want to keep in step with time, and strive for welfare and stability — we must be among the best”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs told the participants of the conference.

According to the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, too little work is done to attract foreign investment to the country. However, at the same time it is necessary to encourage the investments of Lithuanian business people abroad.

“Speaking about foreign investments in Lithuania, we often forget that Lithuanian investments already amount to billions of Litas abroad. It is also a very important part of our competitiveness package”, P.Vaitiekūnas stressed.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs invited heads of Lithuanian diplomatic representations to share experiences on how other states implement the policy of promoting competitiveness. He also encouraged them not only to talk about competitiveness related problems in Lithuania, but also invited them to define the guidelines of activities and suggest certain actions aimed at improving the situation in this sphere.

Speeches on the notion of a competitive state in the 21st century, successful examples of other states in increasing competitiveness, implementation of the Lisbon strategy in Lithuania, and influence of the labour market and social fund to the competitiveness of Lithuania were also delivered by foreign experts.

President of the Finnish Innovation Fund Esko Aho, professor of economics of the Free University of Brussels and Senior Fellow of Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory (BRUEGEL) André Sapir , and Director of the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission Peter Stub Jorgensen, delivered reports at the conference.

Discussions on the present and potential advantages of Lithuania and trends of modernization of the state and society are attended by representatives of the Lithuanian business and academic community and media, politicians, experts of economics.

At the conference “Competitiveness of Lithuania” it was stated that the most general criterion for measuring the economic power of a state is its competitiveness. A society that is able to compete effectively in the world will be able to ensure realization of its interests and adapt to the changing international environment. Therefore, the level of competitiveness determines the possibilities for security of the state and society. A modern understanding of competitiveness also includes the economic consequences of non-economic processes, such as education, science, political stability and the system of values.

According to foreign and Lithuanian experts, business representatives, politicians and diplomats, who spoke at the conference - Lithuania should become a real knowledge society as soon as possible and re-orientate its economy towards knowledge. It is the primary goal of Lithuania to remain a competitive state in the global world while ensuring the security of society in a broader sense.

The underlying condition for superiority should be the speed of transformation of the knowledge economy and the knowledge society. Only this precondition will promote the growth of competitiveness in respect of other states striving for modernization of their economies.

It was stressed at the conference that the state must establish conditions which would encourage society to focus on the usage of information and knowledge, and development of qualifications and competences.

During the conference, the building of a state that is open to investments and technological innovations was also discussed, along with the possibilities to modernize political governance by reducing bureaucratic barriers, and speeding up decisions regarding European integration and the world economy, starting with the issues of green field investments and ending with participation in innovation networks and knowledge society.

It was highlighted that the present growth of the Lithuanian economy is based mainly on EU membership and EU financial support. Looking at it in perspective, it is necessary to pay more attention to the financing of scientific research and innovations, and the reform of education.

The diplomats invited Lithuanian institutions and business representatives to be more active in using the opportunities provided by foreign policy for the modernization of the economy of the country. They were also invited to join international networks of science and technologies in order to develop the knowledge society and the knowledge economy. It is absolutely necessary to consolidate financial resources and to ensure effective coordination of activities of all institutions participating in the policy of attracting investments to Lithuania.

After the conference “Competitiveness of Lithuania” on 10 September heads of Lithuanian diplomatic representations were received by the President of  Lithuania Valdas Adamkus. The leader of the state together with Lithuanian diplomatic corps discussed the most important issues of foreign policy.

On 11 September a meeting with the Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Muntianas and members of the Seimas Committees of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs will be organized.

During the meeting in the Seimas amendments of the law on the diplomatic service of the Republic of Lithuania and activities of the parliament in implementing foreign policy of Lithuania will be discussed, activity of the Parliamentary Cooperation Center will be presented to the diplomats.

On 11 September together with the Prime Minister of of Lithuania Gediminas Kirkilas and members of the Government it is planned to discuss the issues of energy security and means for ensuring economic stability of Lithuania.

Heads of diplomatic representations together with the officials from the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad Under the Government of Lithuania will discuss problems of emigration, and together with representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Public Institution “Vilnius — European Capital of Culture 2009”, and the Public Institution “House of Europe”, will discuss the strategy for improving the image of Lithuania.

Heads of diplomatic representations will also consider strategic activity plans of the diplomatic missions, and will discuss the strategic guidelines of Lithuanian foreign policy for 2008 – 2013, developmental cooperation and other related issues.

On 10 September  a meeting with the wife of the President of Lithuania, Alma Adamkienė, was organized for the spouses of heads of Lithuanian diplomatic representations and a discussion about the activities of family members of Lithuanian diplomats was held.

The schedule of the spouses for 11 September includes meeting with the Mayor of Vilnius, Juozas Imbrasas, and the director of the Public Institution “Vilnius — European Capital of Culture 2009” Elona Bajorinienė.