“Klaipėda has immense potential with strong internationally operating companies and new business projects in the pipeline. The local government is actively involved in ensuring favorable conditions for these processes. We are delighted that this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is focusing on Klaipėda and organizing this diplomatic visit here. This visit provides us with the opportunity to showcase a city that opens social and economic pathways for businesses. I believe this visit will help spread the word about Klaipėda in foreign countries, establish new contacts, and open new opportunities for all participants,” says Klaipėda mayor Arvydas Vaitkus.

At the event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Klaipėda, significant attention is given to discussing the port, its capabilities, ongoing activities, and services. The CEO of the Port Authority, Algis Latakas, presents to the diplomats the development directions of Klaipėda sea port, ongoing and planned investment projects, with a primary focus on the southern part development project. The environmental, social responsibility, and digitization projects being implemented at the port are also highlighted. The possibilities and directions of cooperation between the Port of Klaipėda and foreign countries, as well as untapped niches for mutually beneficial business relations with various countries worldwide, are discussed.

“In 2023, Klaipėda’s port had maritime trade connections with 60 countries globally. We aim to spread the word about the port, its competitiveness, and the quality of services offered as widely as possible. Introducing special attachés and diplomats performing economic functions in foreign diplomatic and consular offices to Lithuania’s only commercial seaport can significantly contribute to spreading the word about it worldwide. Our goal is to further diversify cargo both geographically and in terms of clients and types of cargo transported, and to attract potential investors for the planned southern part development project,” states A. Latakas.

For the visiting diplomats in Klaipėda, meetings with members of the Klaipėda Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts are organized, along with a port overview and a planned visit to Western Shipyard and a presentation of the opportunities and companies operating in the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone (FEZ).

“Economic diplomacy plays a crucial role in attracting investors, and it is currently important to seize new opportunities in the defense, renewable energy, and supply chain change sectors,” says Eimantas Kiudulas, head of Klaipėda FEZ.

“In recent years, the Western world has found itself in a new reality where Lithuania, and specifically Klaipėda, has the potential to intensify the development of defense industry technologies, as well as wind, solar or green hydrogen components. Fundamentally changing supply chains also create good opportunities to produce and test products in Lithuania with European or even Taiwanese components, and help Western companies bring manufacturing closer to ‘home’ markets. It is important that both strategic and prospective investors in Lithuanian markets hear this firsthand, so this initiative is not only commendable but should also be repeated regularly,” says E. Kiudulas.

The goal of the visit is to familiarize diplomats with the Klaipėda’s development strategy, business projects, the port and the free zone, as well as to ensure the spread of information about Klaipėda’s advantages in foreign markets.

“This year, we begin the gathering of economic diplomats and special attachés in Klaipėda – a city particularly important to the Lithuanian economy. The port ensures Lithuania’s trade with global markets, and the free economic zone attracts foreign investments, creating jobs and fostering the growth of the local business environment. Klaipėda is a strategically important energy hub ensuring Lithuania’s energy security. It is also a logistics center connecting land, sea, and rail transport networks. The attractive tourism sector further enhances the city’s uniqueness. All these aspects are very important for diplomats and special attachés working in the economic field,” states Donatas Tamulaitis, Director of the Department of External Economic Relations and Economic Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Annual familiarization visits to Lithuanian cities and regions are organized for Lithuanian diplomats performing economic functions in foreign diplomatic and consular offices. Last year, such an event took place in Kaunas. The last visit of diplomats to Klaipėda was in 2016.

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According to the company, visitors were most impressed by the exceptional design, lightness and cutting-edge technologies of the Lithuanian bus. The company hints that in the future, the Klaipėda-made bus will be seen not only on the streets of its hometown, but also in other European cities.

“We hope that the Dancer buses will soon be seen not only in Lithuania – two of our models and the e-mobility solutions offered with them have been of interest at the exhibition by passenger carriers from the Nordic countries, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and other European countries,” says Alvydas Naujėkas, the CEO of Dancer.

Busworld 2023 is one of the most important events in passenger transport, revealing the future of the sector. It is a good opportunity to meet industry leaders, potential partners and customers.

Visitors the Dancer bus stand could learn all about the two technologically advanced, 100% electric Dancer bus models – the fast-charging Dancer (FC 75) and the long-range Dancer (LR 530). The low-floor electric buses produced and operated in Lithuania have already saved almost half a million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The fast-charging Dancer (FC 75), designed for dynamic cities, has an extremely fast charging time of just 8 minutes. The bus is also extremely economical, with an average energy consumption of 0.72 kWh/km, allowing it to cover up to 100 km on a single charge. These technical features, together with fast charging, make it easy to operate in urban areas.

The long-range Dancer (LR 530) model can cover an impressive 530 km on a single charge. This endurance is thanks to the ultra-high-capacity NMC lithium-ion batteries. Recharging to 100% takes between one and four hours, making it easy for operators to plan public transport schedules.

Dancer aims to become a competitive contender in the 12-metre bus category, competing with both European and Chinese manufacturers. The company is focusing heavily on weight reduction and body construction, and is aiming for the highest level of functionality.

“We have been looking for new solutions for the body structure, so Dancer engineers have developed a new generation of composite materials in collaboration with leading universities and well-known wind turbine blade manufacturers. The body is strong and lightweight, while the use of recycled plastics from the oceans ensures sustainability. Composite materials have replaced metal in many places, including the chassis,” says Naujėkas.

Dancer buses have been on the streets of Klaipėda for about four years. The Lithuanian electric buses are designed and manufactured at the Klaipėda FEZ.

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Klaipėda FEZ representatives have been interested in smart city trends for some time now for a simple reason. The FEZ territory is, in fact, still a “city within a city” with 6,000 employees and a unified infrastructure. Still, at the same time, it is an integral part of the city of Klaipėda, and is closely connected to the city’s ecosystem through social, traffic, engineering and other ties.

The Klaipėda FEZ Management Company has already implemented smart solutions such as an Internet of Things (IoT) network for various sensors, an odour monitoring and modelling system, a 3D model of the territory, and an automated system processes for certain data exchange or meter readings. The FEZ is also already deploying and is planning to launch smart traffic flow monitoring and parking systems in the spring. The development of a waste monitoring and management system is being considered and explored.

For these reasons, Mr. Impinnisi was in Barcelona to explore the latest trends in smart cities, technological and data solutions and possible partnerships.

One of the most striking aspects of this year’s event, he said, was the “digital twin cities,” i.e. the replication of cities or territories and the processes that take place in them on a virtual platform. This type of solution allows for a convenient digital representation of urban processes such as traffic and transport, construction and spatial planning, communications and infrastructure, etc.

“The value of digital twin cities lies in the ability to carry out a variety of process simulations before specific projects are undertaken and thus predict their positive or negative impact. For example, any impact of transport infrastructure or construction on human or vehicular traffic can be evaluated in a realistic way and decisions can be made accordingly. Digital twin cities allow cities to manage their resources more efficiently and to model new solutions in a safe, responsible and measured way,” says Mr. Impinnisi.

Another striking trend from Barcelona is data. While cities and territories around the world have been collecting data on traffic, traffic lights, air, waste, public transport and other urban services for some time, they are now starting to think about how to put this data into practice – to optimise existing services and to develop new ones. For example, properly prepared data is slowly being combined with artificial intelligence to model and predict relevant urban needs, to pre-empt problems, or find hard-to-see dependencies in systems. A simple example of this would be automated traffic and traffic light control, diverting traffic away from sources of pollution or, conversely, avoiding travel to more polluted areas.

Another striking trend this year is the monitoring of pollution and air quality. Cities around the world are increasingly focusing on the quality of life, the environment, problem prevention and real-time alerts, which is why the event showcased a wide range of technical solutions such as sensors, detectors, stations, systems and platforms. Of course, the exhibition was also full of solutions for electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles, solar energy, sustainable mobility and more.

According to Mr. Impinnisi, the trends at the Barcelona exhibition confirm the need to integrate existing technological solutions or data into common information platforms, harmonise technological standards, and share resources.

“Today, big and important decisions can be made with data. Therefore, it is important that as much data as possible is generally available and then properly organised, aggregated, analysed and, most importantly, used for decision-making. The Klaipėda FEZ is committed to an open approach to data, both within the territory and with city and regional partners – many of us already have a wide range of sensors and statistics, so it makes sense to combine all of this and see a single picture that will enable the city and individual organisations to make accurate, calculated and relevant decisions for the many,” says Mr. Impinnisi.

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The lockdown and remote learning did not prevent Baltic Gymnasium alongside Klaipėda companies and the city’s university from launching the third iteration of student placement in companies – a programme with a whole year of mentorship, introduction to technologies and physical sciences, and teamwork. This year’s project featured three companies operating in Klaipėda FEZ, allowing students to get acquainted with real engineering work and inviting youths to create projects relevant to real business situations – autonomous biological cleaning devices, a revolving equipment stand, and a scooter frame.

UAB Gren Klaipėda (previously Fortnum), which operates a cogeneration plant at the FEZ, has participated in the project since its inception in 2018. The company’s representative Ingrida Krivičiūtė says that this year, the project engaged with four engineering class groups: mechanical, automation, electrical, and process engineering. This year, students cooperating with Gren presented a final project of a revolving equipment stand. In addition, the company’s representative explains that to ensure the reliability of equipment at the plant and minimize maintenance costs, the cogeneration plant employs preventative device maintenance and predictive maintenance. This is based on ensuring the timely repair of devices based on their condition.

The PET manufacturer NEO GROUP worked with the four engineering student groups for the second year in a row. As a result, the four groups, which included a total of a dozen students, created a final project on autonomous biological treatment devices.

“During the project, technological blueprints were created, 3D designs were drawn up, and appropriate devices were assembled. The final “product” for the project was to have functioning treatment devices you could place on the table and actually use, with real components, a small solar generator, and parts the students would use a 3D printer to manufacture. Unfortunately, we only implemented the theoretical part this year due to the lockdown. However, the students have prepared all the information, and we plan to complete the project in the next academic year,” NEO GROUP training and development specialist Ditė Norvilė explains.

Meanwhile, UAB Vėjo Projektai, the manufacturers of the Dancer bus, joined the engineering class project for the first time this year. However, according to company representative Viktorija Jakubauskytė-Andriulienė, while universities now include core knowledge about electrical bus systems and electronics in their technological study programmes and modules, the challenge remains that students are insufficiently interested in these studies.

A total of 18 student groups presented their engineering research projects in June to the city’s companies and Klaipėda University. In addition to the FEZ’s companies, the students also worked alongside companies such as Smiltynės Perkėla, Vakarų Medienos Grupė, Klaipėdos Smeltė, Mano Būstas, Vakarų Laivų Gamykla, and Grigeo Klaipėda, as well as Klaipėda Seaport and Klaipėda University.

According to Jurgita Račkauskienė, the director of Baltic Gymnasium, the project work performed during this programme primarily aims at real-world processes, which is practical activities and not just theory. Furthermore, the aim is also to create conditions for students to develop, seek logical links and solutions, and nurture responsibility, leadership, and teamwork skills.

“We are especially glad to see the companies’ responsible outlook and desire to offer the students as much useful information as possible. Students are most motivated by practical implementation, experience, and final results. Thus, this partnership between the companies and our gymnasium proves particularly fruitful. We hope that we will be able to return to real, non-remote environments in the next academic year,” J. Račkauskienė says.

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Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of Klaipeda FEZ, was among the speakers and panelists of the summit, opened by Arja Makkonen, the Ambassador of Finland to Lithuania, and Lithuania’s European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius this year.

Klaipeda FEZ received a special fDi Intelligence award for sustainability for initiatives by both the zone management company and investors this year, and so, E. Kiudulas was invited to share his experience of transforming the FEZ from an industrial territory into a sustainability-focused ecosystem at the summit.

“Sustainability agenda is already vital for one’s survival. Consumers require it and they agree to pay a premium for it. Consequently, companies follow suit and have sustainability agendas and strategies. Eventually, they want to work at locations that fit their sustainability visions. As a free zone, you can no longer expect sustainability-focused investors without having your own sustainability agenda,” E. Kiudulas said on stage.

He also argued that the COVID pandemic brought businesses and communities closer to each other across the globe. It also showed that much more could be done when cooperating. 

“I believe that COVID will help to bring the future faster. It already hastened automation, digitalization, and other new things. What’s even more important, the pandemic proved that strategy is much more important than short term planning, and all pre-COVID sustainability strategies I know have prevailed. Also, having a ‘plan B’, adaptable leaders, and strong teams is crucial, of course, but we also witnessed that wonders can be done if leaders cooperate and if one’s closest neighbors and stakeholders are involved in both strategies and daily actions,” E. Kiudulas said.

The importance of sustainability-oriented partnerships was also emphasized by Salla Ahonen, the Vice President of Sustainability at NESTE, a Finnish energy giant. NESTE aims to achieve its own carbon neutral target by 2035 and the company has already implemented numerous initiatives that span from renewable electricity use to investment into sustainability-focused technologies, recycling and partnerships. Ms. Ahonen argued that partnerships are crucial in one’s pursuit of sustainability.

“The pandemic hasn’t changed our direction of sustainability. We have the commitment and awareness of the whole company. Big changes are never isolated though. And so we have a lot of collaborations with universities and research institutions. We are also working together with our customers and partners, and so sustainability-focused projects, such as industrial-scale electricity and windfarm implementations with Fortum, sustainable aviation fuel with airlines and various used cooking oil – to – diesel schemes with restaurant chains and cities become a reality. We believe in partnerships and togetherness, station by station, customer by customer,” Ms. Ahonen said.

Other presenters and panelists shared similar views. For instance, BIOK Laboratorija, a major Lithuanian cosmetics firm, has long been focusing on sustainability, yet the pandemic has in a sense opened its eyes when it comes to the complexity of its supply chain. Consequently, some more sustainable alternatives were discovered, according to the company’s CEO Romualda Stragiene.

Lithuania’s former minister of transportation and energy Rokas Masiulis was inviting Nordic companies to benefit from Lithuania’s strong logistics ecosystem. Though he argued that the logistics industry is probably not a major sustainability innovator yet, he agreed that this agenda is major, global, and irreversible.

Also, Nicholas Rosenberg Kjaer, the managing director at Volvo Lithuania, and Ruta Juciene, the Global Key Account Manager Europe at SAS, both agreed that the pandemic has not derailed the sustainability agendas of both companies, and they both argued that 2020 showed the importance of partnerships that already do and will further open doors to new sustainable products, services or fuels.

On behalf of Klaipeda Free Economic Zone management company team, we kindly thank the organizers for both a meaningful and impactful event, as well as for an opportunity for E. Kiudulas to share his insights with a solid audience.

You can watch the full conference here.

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The Baltic Gymnasium High School began a pilot project and company visits back in 2018 and, after the successful experience, one of the largest and most modern European PET manufacturers NEO GROUP, which operates in Klaipėda FEZ, joined the initiative to encourage engineering practices and involvement. During the nine-month long project, twelve engineering section students were split into four teams and within the project spent several hours a month working alongside NEO GROUP specialist-mentors. They gained experience in automation, energy systems, mechanics and technology, with the school year being crowned by a final engineering project, which combined all these elements – the presentation of an continuous APP manufacturing process.

NEO GROUP CEO Ruslanas Radajevas says that gymnasium students nowadays are particularly interested in the topics of sustainability, recycling, environmental or circular economy and are pleased to learn that these issues can be solved through engineering knowledge and experience.

“Therefore, for the main part of our project, we chose to look closer into the manufacturing processes and technologies of one of our most ecological and sustainable products – APP. For the production of this material, we use around 45% of recycled plastic, returning it back to a new, meaningful and effective life in the construction industry. We are pleased not only because we showed how an engineering industry company operates, but also because we demonstrated to our young people that engineering, mechanics and technology are the fundamental tools to resolve global sustainability and environmental protection questions,” R. Radajevas comments.

According to Jurgita Račkauskienė, the director of Klaipėda‘s Baltic Gymnasium, during the project, the students and educators were pleased to have the opportunity to apply their theoretical learning in practice, linking aspects of their existing knowledge to new information.

“During this academic year, students from the Baltic Gymnasium improved their knowledge not only in science and technical courses at NEO GROUP, they also improved their communication and teamwork skills and expanded their understanding of engineering. Parents were also happy with the project – the opportunity to take a closer look at a profession and the subtleties of working in a real business environment are very valuable when considering future studies and careers,” J. Račkauskienė stated.

According to her, compared to the start of the 2018 engineering class in the gymnasium, interest in engineering studies has increased significantly after the first year. Two years ago one engineering class had 17 students, while from September 2020, already 119 gymnasium students will be studying a course which is based on an engineering education programme.

The students participating in the project claim that the opportunity to gain “hands on” experience of the daily operations of NEO GROUP was inspiring and “eye-opening.”

“This project was an incredibly beneficial and valuable experience helping guide me towards what I could do in the future. The work of engineers is very responsible and at the same time encourages me to push myself further in this direction. Although I worked in the mechanics group where we dealt a bit less with the topic of recycling, my fellow students from the chemistry and technologies groups dedicated significant effort to sustainability, recycling and environmental protection. I believe that nowadays young people take environmental questions very seriously. It’s truly important to us,” a participant of the project, Auksė said.

She adds that previously, she did not imagine how broad and modern are the ongoing factory manufacturing and, in particular, R&D activities which she got to see almost every day. “NEO GROUP showed us their extensive laboratory and the research performed within it. It is incredible and very interesting that this is all happening in our own city,” the gymnasium student stated.

The professionals of NEO GROUP who participated in the project also see the great importance of showing their work and opportunities to young people. They included: automation engineer Simonas Baltunis, electrical engineer Ignas Krasuckas, mechanical engineer Arūnas Gelžinis, Research & Experimental Development manager Petras Žutautas and technologist Vitalijus Galican.

“By being able to talk about engineering deeper, we contribute to the students’ education. Even if they don’t eventually become engineers, we will know that we offered the students a broader understanding of the world around them. As such, we have no doubt that it is definitely worth participating in such a project and we will gladly contribute again to this initiative next year,” V. Galican stated.

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The program will bring together internationally acclaimed lectors from abroad and provide economic knowledge that will help businesses to gain a competitive advantage. Leaders, various specialists, as well as promising students, will gain new competencies, which will be useful while looking for a new niche, creating innovative products or services, and striving for more sustainable utilization of maritime resources.

The concept of Blue Growth in the European context is gaining prominence, quickly starting to affect various economic and social mechanisms. Lithuania is not being left behind and Klaipeda has a unique opportunity to turn Blue Growth into a tangible benefit, because many of the industries related to this concept, like shipping, shipbuilding, and tourism, either have a deep tradition or are being quickly developed in the region.

“Even right now, business and higher education centers in our city surprise with their achievements in this area,” said Alina Šoparė, the Education Project Manager for Klaipeda ID. “To become a leading city in the sustainable maritime sector, we have to strengthen the competencies of our students and working professionals, which is precisely what this program aims to do.”

According to Artūras Razbadauskas, a Rector at Klaipeda University, the crisis brought on by the pandemic did not impede the progress of this project. “Quite the opposite, the situation showed that it is very important to clearly identify the areas, which will help to create the highest added value,” he said. “Our university, which is part of EU-CONEXUS (European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability), aims to become a center that collects progressive ideas, with the new program allowing them to be analyzed and directed towards practical application.”

Klaipeda has declared the goal to seek sustainable utilization of resources from the sea, strengthening of competencies relevant to smart industries, bio and cleantech, and other ambitious goals in its Klaipeda 2030 developmental strategy. The hope is that the Blue Growth Leaders Academy, which is unprecedented both in Lithuania and in neighboring countries, will help Klaipeda to attract a new generation of blue economy leaders, which will contribute to Klaipeda becoming more prosperous in the future.

It is expected that the knowledge gained by the program participants will strengthen business positions, ensure a clearer dialog with representatives from the business and public sectors, and encourage the development of useful partnerships.

“The maritime cluster aims to ensure access to the knowledge, which enables opening new business niches and optimal utilization of the potential Klaipeda has, so the idea of the Blue Growth Leaders Academy was exhaustively discussed and grown with the input from representatives of Klaipeda’s essential industries,” said Andrius Sutnikas, the development manager of the Klaipeda Science and Technology Park. “The cluster members who represent businesses stated that they support the idea, find its direction to be correct, the themes of the project — relevant.”

The lectors participating in the program are a specifically gathered team of experts, internationally acclaimed scientists and practitioners from Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, whose lecture themes will touch upon the port and shipping, blue biotechnologies, shipbuilding, aquaculture, surf energy, sea, and shore tourism.

Blue Growth Leaders Academy will provide the opportunity to educate yourself by improving in innovation and change management. The participants will receive the most important information based on the current realities of the sector, will be introduced to European and global trends in various blue growth sectors, which are drawing the picture of the future right now.

Blue Growth Leaders Academy will accept participants from business and other organizations in Klaipeda and Lithuania overall, specialists from various sectors, who are or plan to work in the blue growth sector. Students from latter bachelor’s studies at Klaipeda University, as well and Master’s and Doctorate students interested in the subjects or researching blue growth can also join the Academy.

In 2020-2021, the Blue Growth Leaders Academy will accept 50 participants.

The academy will last 10 months. The Blue Growth Leaders Academy will arrange its timetable to make sure that participants can manage their involvement and active professional activities at the same time.

The best candidates will receive scholarships from the Klaipeda University Future Fund. The 2,000 EUR scholarships will be handed out by the selection jury, based on candidates’ motivation and achievements.

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Before 2015, Klaipeda was constantly ahead of Kaunas in GDP per capita; however, due to the 2015-2016 crisis and the reduction of transit scale to Eastern European countries, the GDP has not recovered yet and Klaipeda remains the third-richest city in Lithuania. On the other hand, Klaipeda and Kaunas were the major contributors to the positive economic statistics in Lithuania as a whole, following the general downturn of the economy in the European Union and Germany specifically.

Despite that, Žygimantas Mauricas, the Chief Economist at the Luminor bank, said that Klaipeda has a good opportunity to shoot forward, matching what Vilnius and Kaunas did a decade ago and between 2014 and 2015, respectively. To do it successfully, however, the port city should not only hold course where it is strong (the port and industry) but also look for opportunities to grow when it comes to exporting high added-value services.

“The main problems Klaipeda faces, the lack of infrastructure and talent, can also be reframed as opportunities,” Ž. Mauricas said. “For example, Vilnius and Kaunas have a lot of people living there as well and employees working in the high added-value sector. This means that these cities enjoy great flexibility while hiring and firing people. Also, Vilnius and Kaunas are more accessible to investors because they have more business centres. I think that Klaipeda’s business leaders should unite, possibly even make a va bank decision to invest in specific business centres, all to provide a ready space for new companies. The engine of industry in Klaipeda is very strong, but providing an extra push by creating an ecosystem of businesses, academics and talent is also very important when looking for new avenues of growth.”

Simas Simanauskas, the Director of Klaipėda ID, the agency aimed at developing the city, assured everyone that the port city took the first steps towards realizing their ambitious “Klaipeda 2030” strategy. Throughout the next decade, the plan aims to create 25,000 new jobs, attract 1.5 billion EUR in foreign direct investment, see 2,000 companies established in the city and attract 40,000 new people to relocate there. According to S. Simanauskas, 4,500 new jobs were created in Klaipeda in 2019, the city’s population has also grown in population for the first time since 1996. Preliminary data suggests that 3,000 people moved to Klaipeda in 2019.

“Education remains our biggest priority,” S. Simanauskas said. “We understand that the city will not meet its goals without a strong foundation of higher education. This is why we are working with various educational institutions, reviewing study programmes, aiming to adjust them according to the needs of modern businesses. We also united all institutions of higher learning in Klaipeda and created a common marketing programme with the aim of working together to increase the number of students in Klaipeda instead of viciously competing for every single one of them. On the other hand, we wish our graduates to be able to find gainful employment in a company from the services sector, which has experienced the fastest growth (12%) in the city for a couple of years now. Klaipeda was the first city in Lithuania to offer a financial incentive to set up and expand service centres by compensating a share of the rent in exchange for the vow to keep the jobs that are being created. This year, we aspire to offer more tools to integrate returning Klaipeda citizens, keep the foreign students working here after graduation, and create an attractive space for specialists from abroad.”

Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of the Klaipeda FEZ, chipped in, saying that the FEZ has been experiencing a real transformation throughout the past decade as well. Starting as a traditional manufacturing zone, the FEZ now has around 10 research centres and laboratories, which increase the added-value of the companies operating them at the FEZ.

“In the past, the FEZ was sold to investors as a convenient infrastructure package and a way to pay less for labour,” E. Kiudulas said. “Today, investors are much more interested in the community and talent, which can not only manufacture but develop products as well. I can only rejoice that the new investors entering the FEZ are researchers and developers who employ the greatest minds in Klaipeda first and manufacturers second. One of the example of this concept in action is the company which makes Dancer electric buses and embodies the concept of a Lithuanian success story.”

On the other hand, Klaipeda has always been and will remain a port city. The State Seaport of Klaipeda feels that it has outgrown its shirt and is ready for further expansion.

Vidmantas Paukštė, the Director of Infrastructure and the Acting Director General of the Klaipeda Seaport Authority, said that the port plans to invest 600 million EUR into deepening the port, improving navigation and expanding the territory (excluding the outer port). These expansion projects would allow the port to service the biggest of ships, stay current to the present trends in the industry and help to increase the market competitiveness of exporters from Klaipeda and Lithuania overall.

“Everyone can import wares from, say, China; however, by improving the competitiveness of the Lithuanian logistics sector and making it cheaper, Lithuanian products could become much more competitive in the market,” V. Paukštė said. “This is why we have started preparing for the port expansion and hope to continue improving Klaipeda’s competitiveness.”

Mindaugas Kulbokas, the head of Research & Analysis at NEWSEC, an international real estate consultancy company, wished Klaipeda boldness when it comes to carrying out big-scale real estate projects, which could act as a magnet for people and businesses.

“Currently, Klaipeda is not a place you choose to invest in naturally,” M. Kulbokas said. “With that said, there is potential for 130-140 thousand square meters of office space in the city, according to our calculations. I fervently hope that the city institutions will support exceptional ambitious projects like the idea for the multi-functional complex at the mouth of the Danė river. On the other hand, the Lighthouse project, which was successfully developed in Klaipeda commercially successful and, I believe, will inspire other investors.”

The first-ever event “Klaipeda for Business” was organized by Klaipeda ID, Klaipeda FEZ and the representatives from the Port of Klaipeda.

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Vaidotas Zala and Saulius Jurgelenas will be conquering the unforgiving Saudi deserts and dunes with their brand new MINI John Cooper Works Rally car. The Rally will start on the 5th of January in Jeddah and will finish on the 17th of January in Qiddiya. 12 stages are scheduled for the event this year.

Team Agrorodeo will take place in the prestigious event for the 5th time this year. They did not finish in the first two attempts, however, Vaidotas and Saulius finished in a solid 18th place in 2018, while last year saw our team finishing in the record 12th place. While the bar is set pretty high for this year, Agrorodeo’s ambitions are even higher.

Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of Klaipeda FEZ, says that partnership with Agrorodeo has several goals and reasons.

“Clearly, it’s one of the ways to present Klaipeda FEZ to the international crowd of motorists and businesses. However, we are also united by many shared values and principles such as teamwork, trust, long-term relationships, bespoke and efficient communication, passion for speed and being results-oriented. We also believe that true success can be achieved in long-term partnerships, and so being together for the 3rd year in a row, we are pretty certain to achieve even more than last year”, – E. Kiudulas says.

As in the previous years, team Agrorodeo will meet the members of Klaipeda FEZ investors’ community as well as the employees working in the territory. Last year, team Agrorodeo discussed the similarities of desert racing and doing business.

“It’s not only about speed but experience, teamwork, and well-calculated risk. I think the formula for success at Dakar is finding the right balance between brutal speed and healthy risk. We all drive there in uncertainty, and dangers can lie behind every dune and every twist,” V. Žala stated last year.

The meeting with our community will take place after the end of the Dakar rally – we will inform about the exact time and place separately.

We wish our drivers a successful journey! You can follow their progress on the official website of the Dakar rally.

The post Dakar Rally as a Celebration of Teamwork, Trust and Partnership first appeared on Klaipėdos Laisvoji Ekonominė Zona | Klaipėdos LEZ | FEZ.LT.

During the event, the representatives from the Klaipeda FEZ companies pointed out that even though more than 100 different companies operate out of the zone, all of them procure products and services from suppliers separately most of the time. This translates directly into ineffective utilization of resources, time and logistics, as well as harm to the environment.

These were the reasons why the team decided to work on the prototype, called B4B Core. It is a platform, which connects both buyers and suppliers, allowing each one to mark the orders they are planning on making. When the opportunity presents itself, two or more buyers of the same product can join forces to make a joint order, all for a discount on the buyers’ side and reduced logistics costs for the supplier.

As time passes, a project like this could support not only the Klaipeda FEZ companies and their suppliers but the Klaipeda region or even the entire business ecosystem of Western Lithuania.

Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of the Klaipeda FEZ, congratulates the team, which came up with the initiative and promises support in its further development.

“For a while now, we’ve been looking for ways to combine the buying power of the Klaipeda FEZ companies ourselves, for example, when it comes to buying electricity. I know for certain that there are many different situations where FEZ companies buy from the same suppliers but do it separately, losing the opportunity to negotiate for better terms from a stronger position and also losing out when it comes to logistics. We will be looking for ways and solutions to turn this weekend initiative from our colleagues into a functioning system, serving not only our zone but the entire Lithuanian business landscape,” says E. Kiudulas.

The Klaipeda FEZ team consisted of members from UAB Forum Klaipeda, UAB Yazaki Wiring Technologies Lietuva, UAB AD REM LEZ, UAB Espersen Lietuva and UAB Vejo projektai, which manufactures the Dancer electric buses.

The Portathon Baltic hackathon featured 80 participants, 18 projects were presented at the end of the event. The event took place at the Klaipeda Science and Technology Park.

The post Klaipeda FEZ Team Worked On Joint Purchasing Platform at a Hackathon  first appeared on Klaipėdos Laisvoji Ekonominė Zona | Klaipėdos LEZ | FEZ.LT.