Lithuania

LITHUANIA

Country Economy: Lithuania

Lithuania has everything you need to make your investment go even further: dynamic talent, EU-leading infrastructure, a stable, growth-oriented business environment, and a strong focus on building innovation for the future.

General facts about Lithuania

Population: 2.8million
Labour Pool: 1.5 million
Unemployment: 6.0% (2019 March)[1]
GDP growth: 4.1% in 2017; 3.4% in 2018; 2.8% in 2019 (expected)

Global Integration: Lithuania has been a member of WTO since 2001; EU and NATO - since 2004; Eurozone – since 2015; OECD – since 2018.

What gives Lithuania the edge?

Young and talented labour
World-class infrastructure
Great quality to cost ratio
Business friendly environment
Perfect living pace

Lithuania‘s Global Performance:

14th Globally for Ease of Doing Business, (World Bank, 2018)
13th Freest economy in the world (Fraser Institute, 2018)
5th globally in fulfilling business needs for ICT (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, 2018)
Fastest public Wi-Fi globally (Rotten Wifi tests, 2018)
4th in EU for mobile 4G coverage (European Commission Digital Agenda Scoreboard,2017)
Strong credit ratings:
- Fitch (August, 2018) A-, with a positive outlook
- Moody’s (August, 2018) A3, with a stable outlook
- Standard & Poor’s (March, 2017) A-, with a stable outlook

Information taken from Invest Lithuania (2019)[2].

Fintech Industry

To be a small country that can punch above its weight, focusing in on one industry you are especially strong at is essential. And for Lithuania, that industry is Fintech – a rapidly developing field on the intersection of traditional finance and cutting-edge IT. Compared to other Fintech hubs, Lithuania possesses one highly distinctive feature: a shared strategic outlook found at every level of the ecosystem. From a regulator often named the most progressive in the EU, to a government that understands the value of adapting fast, through to industry associations building a close-knit community, there is a shared commitment to make Fintech work.

And Lithuania has already made big strides forward. Fuelled by a talent pool that has honed its skills in enterprises like Danske Bank and Western Union, Lithuania has taken disruption from theory to practice. The 170 Fintechs based in Lithuania already benefit from a suite of sandboxes that enable them to test and perfect innovations that could soon be transforming financial services for businesses and individuals.

Progresive regulation

Fastest pan-European Fintech licence in the EU

E-money or payments licence in just 3 months

Specialised “lite” bank licence for challenger banks:

5 times lower initial requirement than for traditional banks – only €1M

Regulatory Sandbox for Fintech Startups

Test financial innovations for the 1st year under the guidance and supervision of the regulator

Guidance and cooperative attitude

Newcomer Programme to facilitate the entry of new players and application documents accepted in English

Ecosystem Catalyzers:

Fintech Sandbox: Launched by the Bank of Lithuania to provide Fintech startups with a regulatory environment for testing innovative solutions.
Blockchain Sandbox: Launched by the Bank of Lithuania to enable companies to test financial products in a limited setting and under the guidance of regulators.
Open Banking Sandbox:Launched by commercial banks to allow third parties to innovate new solutions by accessing bank accounts.
Energy Sandbox: Launched by the Energy Solutions Centre (ESCO) for companies to experiment and

test innovative energy solutions in the distribution network.

Proptech Sandbox: Launched by the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association to allow companies to test their technology and concepts with trial runs in the Real Estate industry.

Ecosystem facilitators:

Rise Vilnius: Rise is a community of the world's brightest fintech thinkers and doers, from rising startups to industry leaders, working together to create the future of financial services.Rise locations: New York, London, Tel Aviv, Vilnius, Mumbai
Vilnius Tech Park - The biggest ICT startup hub in the Baltics and Nordics, uniting international startups, tech companies, VCs, accelerators, incubators and other ecosystem players
SEB Innovation Centre is a meeting space for individuals with innovative mindsets and enterprises seeking to expand their business through innovation. It is also home to a co-working space for fintech startups
Blockchain Centre (BC) Vilnius is the first blockchain technology centre connecting key stakeholders in Asia, Australia, and Europe. BC’s goal is to unlock value using blockchain technology in business, finance, and public administration.

Information taken from the joint report by Invest Lithuania and Rise Vilnius, 2018.[3]

ICT sector highlights (by Enterprise Lithuania)

Lithuania is recognized as a hub for information and communication technologies (ICT) and is further positioning itself as a center of excellence in cybersecurity, e-business and e-government solutions. Lithuanian ICT infrastructure is well known for its quality and high level of development. Lithuania’s e-infrastructure is EU-leading. In fact, it is amongst the best worldwide.

Our ICT industry is well known for its Digital Government services, the amount of them being electronic and the constant effort to improve their availability. Having the goal of saving both costs and time of our citizens we transfer our public services to the digital platform and maintain the objective of everyone's convenience - both the citizens and the public sector. Consistent improvement is what we do.

Global recognition

1st in the EU for fibre-to-premises penetration (Fibre to the Home Council, 2015)
1st globally in fulfilling business requirements for ICT (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, 2015)
Leading connectivity and communications technology (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, 2015)
Lithuanians are among global leaders in using mobile e-signature