Today, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) officially opened its new Trade and Investment office in Vilnius, Lithuania.
This marks a significant milestone in the relationship between Lithuania and Australia, with the new Austrade office to focus on boosting bilateral trade and investment in key sectors including technology, energy, infrastructure and life-sciences.
It comes a year after the establishment of the first Lithuanian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, in February 2022.
Lithuania is one of the most innovative and tech-savvy markets in Europe and is fast becoming an international innovation hotspot and start-up hub. Lithuania ranks 5th globally for digital skills, and 6th globally in the National Cybersecurity Index.
There are major opportunities in Australia for Lithuanian businesses looking to expand internationally in these sectors, as well as commercial opportunities for innovative Australian companies, research centres and technology hubs to find Lithuanian customers and partners.
The Vilnius office is Austrade’s 68th global office, and will be led by Austrade’s Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Netherlands, Nordics and the Baltics, Ms Annika Barton, with support from Austrade’s Senior Business Development Manager Ms Zivile Krisciune.
Quote attributable to Austrade’s General Manager for Europe, Jennifer Mackinlay:
“Lithuania and Australia share a commitment to the fundamental values of free trade and there are strong people-to-people links between our nations. Our governments are also aligned on, and have expressed strong support for, the swift conclusion of negotiations on the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement. The establishment of our new office will allow us to leverage our shared values and complementary capabilities for mutual economic benefit."
Quote attributable to Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis:
“Lithuania highly welcomes the opening of the Austrade office in Vilnius. It is a great step towards strengthening of business relations between Lithuania and Australia. Trade and supply-chain diversification, coalitions with like-minded states around the globe determine how resilient we are in the face of global challenges, economic disruptions and coercion.”