News - News

According to Statistics Estonia, by flash estimates, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Estonia increased by 4% in the 4th quarter of 2011 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In 2011, the annual GDP grew by 7.5% compared to the previous year.

After a quiet 2010, the real-estate market in the Latvia coastal resort town of Jurmala was very active in 2011 and neared the level of records set in 2006 and 2007, according to information from the Jurmala City Council's financial specialists

The prestigious Newsweek magazine of the US evaluated Lithuania as 34th in The World's Best Countries rating, estimating the greatest countries (a total of 100) to live in worldwide. Lithuania was ranked higher than Latvia, Belarus and Russia.

This week "EDF Energy Networks", which is Great Britain's major electricity generator and a branch of the world's largest utility company EDF based in Paris, entered the Lithuanian market and registered with the Centre of Registers.

Finnish Pohjola Bank officially registered a Lithuanian branch on the 10th of August, though Lithuania already has 8 branches of foreign banks, 9 commercial banks, 2 foreign bank representative offices and 3 financial enterprises governed by the EU licensed foreign banks.

GDP of Lithuania grew by 2.9 %, comparing the second and first quarters of 2010, and that is most in the whole EU, states Eurostat.

Lithuania has one of the lowest tax ratios in Europe, according to Eurostat‘s report Taxation Trends in the European Union 2010 edition.

Dublin-based manufacturer of mats for offices and shopping centers Schmidt International intends to open a new factory in Siauliai, Lithuania.

Lithuanian company Vejo Matas will build a wind power park of 16.1 megawatt turbines in Taurage, Lithuania.

91.3 % of the Lithuanian population aged 25 to 64 had a secondary or higher education in 2009, according to the report of the Lithuanian Department of Statistics. This is the highest level of education in the country in a decade and one of the highest in the EU, the average in the EU 27 being around 70 %.

According to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2010 from Mercer, Vilnius is ranked 120th most expensive city among 214 cities across five continents.

Klaipėda Free Economic Zone (FEZ) has been ranked the 5th best Free Zone in the world in the category of “Best Facilities”, and it is also listed among 25 Free Zones of the Future 2010/11 in the overall ranking, by the premier Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) Magazine of Financial Times Ltd.

Vilnius lands in the 78th position in the Mercer’s annual worldwide quality of living ranking, highest among the Baltic States’ capitals.

Western Union, an industry leader in global money transfer, will set up its new Global Operations Center of Excellence in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Ministry of Economy signed a Letter of Intent with the company. Western Union will open its Center later this year and will create over 200 new jobs in Vilnius during the coming three years.

IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 shows, that Lithuania got the highest positions in female labor force (No. 2), unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector (2), communication technologies’ conformity with business requirements (3) and in number of mobile telephone subscribers (4).

Last week at IBM‘s headquarters in New York, the Lithuanian Government and one of the world leaders in inventing new technologies IBM signed a letter of intent that they would create a joint research centre in Lithuania.

The Lonely Planet, one of the world’s most read travel guides, ranks the Curonian Spit in Lithuania as the second best beach in the world.

Lithuania has become the European country with the highest fiber broadband (Fibre To The Home (FTTH)) penetration of 18 %, according to a survey from FTTH Council Europe. The number of FTTH home subscribers in Lithuania is higher than in Sweden, Italy and France.