SOCIETY 383
The summer issue of SOCIETY features the countries Sweden and Armenia, as well as interviews with the Ambassadors of China, Cyprus, Japan, Lithuania, Korea and Switzerland and Turkmenistan. You will also find an article by Christian Wehrschütz on the parliamentary elections in Montenegro as well as travel stories on Provence in the south of France.
The summer issue of SOCIETY features the countries Sweden and Armenia, as well as interviews with the Ambassadors of China, Cyprus, Japan, Lithuania, Korea and Switzerland and Turkmenistan. You will also find an article by Christian Wehrschütz on the parliamentary elections in Montenegro as well as travel stories on Provence in the south of France.
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<strong>SOCIETY</strong><br />
INTERVIEW<br />
Shaping an<br />
ambitious future<br />
<strong>SOCIETY</strong> sat down with the Lithuanian Ambassador to Austria, H.E. Lina<br />
Rukštelieně, to talk about connections between Lithuania and Austria, her<br />
country’s potential as a place to invest, its foreign policy and the changed<br />
security situation in Europe.<br />
INTERVIEW BY GERTRUD TAUCHHAMMER<br />
50<br />
As representative of Lithuania to Austria, what<br />
are your main goals for your term here? Are there<br />
any specific areas of cooperation with Austria you<br />
would like to focus on?<br />
In 2024, we will celebrate the 100 years anniversary<br />
since the establishment of diplomatic relations<br />
between Lithuania and Austria. This is a symbolic<br />
date, which could pave the way and create<br />
new opportunities to strengthen bilateral relations<br />
and co-operation between Lithuania and Austria.<br />
A major focus in strengthening<br />
bilateral relations<br />
continues to be the intensification<br />
of economic cooperation.<br />
We are happy to<br />
witness the stable growth<br />
of the bilateral trade turnover<br />
in 2022 (the total trade<br />
turnover in 2022 – 873.4 million EUR). Lithuanian<br />
exports to Austria grew by 10% (382.1 million EUR)<br />
and imports grew by 12% (491.3 million EUR).<br />
Lithuania is a safe and secure place to invest. In<br />
fact, 57 foreign direct investment projects in 2022<br />
and 49 foreign direct investment projects in 2021<br />
were accomplished. New investors are coming and<br />
already existing ones are expanding. A highly skilled<br />
and cost-effective labor pool, well-developed<br />
infrastructure and tax incentives make Lithuania<br />
an ideal manufacturing, automotive and shared<br />
services centers’ hub.<br />
We would like to focus on bilateral economic<br />
cooperation in the innovative and high-tech sectors,<br />
especially in life sciences, renewable energy,<br />
ICT and services, etc., both bilaterally and by developing<br />
joint projects together with other EU partners.<br />
In the life sciences industry, Lithuania has an<br />
ambitious goal to become one of the leading<br />
countries in the region. It is expected to increase<br />
the gross domestic product of the industry by 5%<br />
by the end of the decade. It is worth to note that<br />
on September, 20 and 21, 2023 Lithuania will host<br />
the “Life Sciences Baltics” forum, which is a leading<br />
life sciences event in the Baltics. We as an<br />
Embassy use every opportunity to invite the Austrian<br />
side to participate in this forum. (Editor’s<br />
note: interview took place in May 2023).<br />
Digitalization is one of the most important cornerstones<br />
of prosperity and development of our<br />
societies and economies. Being ranked 6th in the<br />
world cybersecurity index, having almost 700 public<br />
services provided online and with an ever growing<br />
Fintech community consisting of 265 companies,<br />
Lithuania’s ICT sector could be a resourceful<br />
partner for Austria’s enterprises and institutions.<br />
Lithuania has a strong industry of laser technologies.<br />
In fact, every 10th scientific laser in the world<br />
is produced in Lithuania.<br />
With this in mind. We see a<br />
strong basis for cooperation<br />
in the development of<br />
new products as well as in<br />
scientific projects.<br />
We are glad that Lithuanian<br />
and Austrian<br />
researchers have collaborated on more than 400<br />
projects within the framework of the EU research<br />
program Horizon 2020.<br />
“Only Ukraine’s victory<br />
will stop Russia.”<br />
What are the key elements of Lithuania’s<br />
foreign policy?<br />
In 2024, we will celebrate the twentieth anniversary<br />
of our membership in the European Union<br />
and NATO. Our goal is to be an active, efficient,<br />
and reliable member of those organizations, to<br />
contribute to the stability, prosperity and security<br />
of the region and to strengthen rules based<br />
international order.<br />
The stability and security of Lithuania depends<br />
on the unity of the European Union and the ability<br />
to effectively respond to internal and external<br />
challenges. I am confident that the enlargement<br />
of the European Union plays a crucial role for our<br />
wellbeing and security.<br />
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated<br />
that the European Union lives in the neighborhood<br />
of an aggressive and unpredictable country.<br />
Therefore, close EU cooperation with NATO,<br />
a strong NATO presence in the region, deepened<br />
transatlantic relations and cooperation with the<br />
US are cornerstones of our security.<br />
Support for democracy and freedom fighters<br />
around the world is also an important part of our<br />
THE LEADING MAGAZINE OF MODERN DIPLOMACY
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