A. Armonaitė pays a business visit to Poland
On 17-18 April, Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė will visit Poland with a delegation of Lithuanian businesses, including representatives of Lithuanian biotechnology companies, associations and research centres, where she will focus on strengthening cooperation in life sciences, digitalisation and cybersecurity issues.
“Lithuania and Poland have strong, consistent and growing ties – our neighbours are among the top ten investors in our country and our largest trading partners, with the turnover of goods between the two countries above €10 billion last year. The main Lithuanian exports to Poland last year included mineral, plastic and animal products, while the main imports from Poland were base metals, chemical products and mechanical equipment. We need to work not only in these areas, but also in life sciences, cybersecurity, digitalisation and other areas,” Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said.
During her visit to Warsaw, A. Armonaitė will open the CEBioForum 2023 life sciences forum together with Waldemar Buda, Minister of Economic Development and Technology of Poland. The plan is to discuss ways to promote cooperation between the Lithuanian Innovation Agency, the Polish Enterprise Development Agency and the Polish Industrial Development Agency at the business meeting of the Ministers, also discussing initiatives to rebuild Ukraine.
A. Armonaitė is scheduled to meet with Janusz Cieszyński, State Secretary for Digitalisation and Government Plenipotentiary Representative for Cyber Security of Poland.
The Minister will take part in a discussion on the future of life sciences in Europe, and together with representatives of the Lithuanian biotechnology association Lithuania BIO and the Innovation Agency, she will visit Lithuania's stand at CEBioForum 2023.
Lithuania has a great potential for life sciences research and production, accounting for around 2.5% of GDP, which is well above the EU’s average. The strategic goal is to achieve a life sciences share of 5% of GDP.
The Minister will meet with the management of the Lukasiewicz Research Network. This is the third largest research network in Europe, with 22 research institutes and 440 laboratories in 12 different cities. The network employs a total of around 7,000 people (4,200 of whom are engineers or scientists). The network is involved in projects worth around €1.6 billion.
Poland’s direct investment in Lithuania amounts to over €1.4 billion and the country ranks 7th according to this indicator.