TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite said on Friday (Aug. 20) her government is striving to diversify its exports and develop new opportunities for industry with expanded partnerships in Southeast Asia.
The establishment of a Lithuanian trade office in Taiwan before the end of this year is in line with this policy, she told CNA in an interview. Responding to pressure from Beijing after announcing Taiwan would establish an embassy in the country under its own name, Ausrine Armonaite said Lithuania and the EU respect both China’s domestic and foreign policies.
Yet the EU and Taiwan have strong links and economic ties, Taiwan being the EU’s sixth largest trading partner in Asia, and the EU is Taiwan’s fifth largest export market. Many EU member states have offices in Taiwan, and Lithuania, which is also an EU member, is following suit.
She stated that Lithuania pursues mutually beneficial economic ties with all countries, including China, but that bilateral relations must be reciprocal.
She said Lithuania will be the 67th country to set up a trade office in Taiwan, and will not abandon its plans to do so. She revealed that the head will be a civil servant from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation.
The 32-year-old Armonaite has bachelor degrees majoring in political science and public policy. She served as a member of Lithuania’s congress for the first time in 2016 and became the founding chairman of the country’s Freedom Party at the age of 30 in June 2019. Her party gained new ground in last October’s election and formed a ruling coalition with two other parties.
She visited Taiwan in 2019, met with high-level decision makers and business organization representatives for about a week, visiting NGOs, science parks, and universities. After returning to Lithuania, she joined with other members of parliament who visited Taiwan to call for the establishment of a representative office in Taiwan in the Lithuanian media.
Lithuania is most famous for its lasers. More than 90% of its laser products are exported, to clients including NASA, the EU’s CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research), and IBM.
Armonaite said that many companies in the Lithuanian laser industry also have customers in Taiwan. Lithuania is interested in expanding cooperation with Taiwan in the fields of information technology, financial technology, automation, and biotechnology.
She mentioned Lithuania has the largest number of fintech companies in the EU (more than 230). It also ranks highly as having an enabling regulatory environment for fintech, ranking just behind the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.
Another strategic industry is aerospace tech. Armonaite said innovations in aerospace are felt throughout a range of other fields, including energy, electronic communications, urban development, national defense, security affairs, agriculture, and more. At present, there are more than 30 aerospace suppliers in Lithuania. She expects that number to reach 80 over the next five years.
Lithuania is ranked 11th in the world by the World Bank for business-friendly environments. Armonaite said there are a number of tax incentives and streamlined administrative procedures designed to attract foreign investment.
In June, Lithuania took the lead among EU countries to announce a donation of 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine to Taiwan to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Armonaite said that vaccines are the only effective way to build collective immunity on a global scale and that Lithuania would continue to help countries lacking vaccines in the future.
She mentioned that Taiwan had donated 100,000 medical masks to Lithuania when the pandemic first broke out more than a year ago. Armonaite concluded that only by working together across borders can we protect ourselves and our loved ones and get back to normal life.
