EIMIN: We invite you to showcase Lithuania's outstanding initiatives to promote entrepreneurship
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation (EIMIN) invites representatives from business, municipalities, the public sector and academia to participate in the national selection of the European Entrepreneurship Awards 2025. The aim of the European competition is to recognise outstanding initiatives that promote entrepreneurship and improve the business environment. Lithuania has been participating in the competition for 20 years, since the awards were launched in 2005.
"Promoting entrepreneurship and continuously improving the business environment is one of our priorities. We want to increase the number of entrepreneurs who start businesses not only to create jobs for themselves, but also to see opportunities in the market. Initiatives that help create innovative business solutions can contribute to a real entrepreneurial breakthrough and need to be shared both within and outside Lithuania. Therefore, I would like to thank the companies, municipalities and institutions that contribute to the organisation of various projects in our country. I invite you to present the projects we have implemented in Europe, because we can really lead by example - the latest results of the GEM Entrepreneurship Survey show that Lithuania has already established itself among the leading countries in the world and is ranked 2nd in the Global Entrepreneurship Index," says Agila Barzdienė, Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The selection will take place in two stages. Only the winners of the first round of the national selection are eligible for the European Entrepreneurship Award.
Success stories of National Selection Winners
The success stories of recent National Selection Winners have shown that projects are being developed across Lithuania that can promote our country in Europe. Last year's National Selection winner, the Rokiškis Business Club's 'Rokiškis Engineering Class' project, has helped to address the shortage of engineers in the region by retaining young people in Rokiškis and attracting talent from surrounding regions to Rokiškis District Municipality.
According to Laimutė Sadauskienė, president of the Rokiškis Business Club, participating in the finals of the 2024 European Entrepreneurship Promotion Awards in Budapest, Hungary, was not only a great recognition, but also an invaluable experience that confirmed that business in the regions is on the right track.
"We had the opportunity to learn about European best practices, exchange ideas with innovative project developers and make valuable contacts that can turn into real partnerships. This recognition is not only a motivation, but also a strong impulse to further develop social innovations, improve labour market conditions and create even more favourable opportunities for young people to grow and pursue a career in the region," says L. Sadauskienė.
The year before last (2023), the project "Pamokos matuojasi Panevėžį" (Lessons Measure Panevėžys), which won the national selection, gave teams of students and teachers the opportunity to solve challenges set by companies.
According to Monika Miniotaitė, director of the Panevėžys Now development agency, participating in the awards ceremony in Bilbao, Spain, was not only an interesting and enriching experience, but also an opportunity to showcase the innovative initiatives implemented in Panevėžys to stimulate the city's economic development at the international level and strengthen the image of Panevėžys as a city with high goals and a business-friendly city.
"This was a great opportunity to assess our performance on a wider European scale: to see if we are competitive and moving in the right direction. The competition also helped us to network with other innovative organisations, to learn from their good practices and to push for new initiatives. We have seen that organisations working in the field of entrepreneurship promotion in different European countries have similar goals and face the same challenges, and that cooperation and exchange of best practices is the most effective way to achieve even better results," says M.Miniotaitė.
6 nominations to showcase Lithuania's outstanding entrepreneurial initiatives
This year, the European Entrepreneurship Contest is open to participants in one of 6 nominations.
The nomination on Improving the Business Environment and Fostering Entrepreneurship will assess cooperation initiatives at national, regional or local level, with a special focus on promoting youth and women entrepreneurship.
The nomination for Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills recognises cooperation initiatives at national, regional or local level aimed at improving entrepreneurial, managerial and other skills needed by workers.
The Supporting Digital Transformation category is open to initiatives that support the digital transformation of enterprises, enabling them to create, market and use digital technologies, products and services of all kinds.
The category Supporting Business Internationalisation rewards innovative initiatives or policies at national, regional or local level that make Europe the most attractive place to start, run, grow and develop a business in the Single Market. This includes simplifying regulatory and administrative procedures for businesses and contributing to the Think Small First principle.
The Sustainable Transformation category recognises policies and initiatives at national, regional or local level that support sustainable transformation and environmental aspects such as circular economy, climate neutrality, clean energy, resource efficiency or biodiversity.
The Responsible Business Award will reward national, regional or local business initiatives that promote the corporate social responsibility of SMEs, as well as business development among vulnerable groups such as the unemployed, the long-term unemployed, legal migrants, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities.
The jury will also award a Grand Prize to the most creative and inspiring entrepreneurship initiative in Europe. It can come from any category.
The competition is organised by the European Commission and the national selection is carried out by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
Applications can be sent by e-mail to [email protected] (phone: +370 685 22 726) until 30 May this year.
More information on the awards can be found on the European Commission's website.