TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nearly 100 business representatives attended the “Lithuania Investment and Market Opportunities Presentation” held by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) on Thursday (Feb. 24).

TAITRA wrote on Facebook that Invest Lithuania Vice President Laisvis Makulis and Enterprise Lithuania Ecommerce Team head Tauras Jonaitis attended the event and spoke to participants about Taiwan-Lithuania partnerships. The two are in Taiwan on a trip to visit industrial and commercial organizations as well as Taiwanese businesses.

At the event William Liu (劉威廉), Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Bureau of Foreign Trade, said that Taiwan set up the “Taiwan Central and Eastern Europe Investment Fund” in January, which focuses on semiconductor, biotech, laser, and electric vehicle industries. CNA cited him as saying that the economic and trade environment in Lithuania is highly tolerant and offers high-quality human resources, which makes the country an ideal place for Taiwanese businesses to invest and use as a base for expansion.

Makulis introduced Lithuania’s investment environment, talking up its advantageous geography, convenient transportation, seven free economic zones, multilingual workers, and advanced levels of globalization and digitization, per TAITRA. He said Taiwanese factories in the country would be able to ship products to clients all over the EU within five days, and would be eligible to waive business, personal, and property taxes for 10 years.

Meanwhile, Jonaitis said Lithuania’s strengths lie in the ICT industry, life science, optics and laser, agricultural and food products, furniture, as well as mechanics and electrical engineering.

According to TAITRA, the bilateral trade value between Taiwan and Lithuania reached as high as US$174 million  (NT$4.85 billion) in 2021, marking a growth rate of over 20 percent. TAITRA said it looks forward to future collaborations between the two countries.