Lithuania is a member of the European Union and the biggest economy among three Baltic states. The economy of Lithuania was one of the fastest growing in the world last decade (1998–2008) as GDP growth rate was positive 9 years in a row. Since the year 2000 GDP has almost doubled with a growth rate of 77%. Lithuania has an ambitious plan to become a Northern European innovation centre by 2020.
Manufacturing constitutes the biggest part of gross value added in Lithuania. More than 57 thousand people were employed in food processing in 2008. The food processing sector constitutes 11% of total exports. Dairy products, especially cheese, are well known in neighbouring countries. Another important manufacturing activity is chemical products. 80% of production is exported so chemical products constitute 12.5% of total exports.
Furniture production activity employs more than 50 thousand people. This sector has grown in double-digit numbers over the last three years. The biggest companies in this field work in cooperation with IKEA and provide high quality products at competitive prices. IKEA also owns one of the biggest wood processing companies in Lithuania.
Companies in the automotive and engineering sector are relatively small but offer flexible services for small and non-standard orders at competitive prices. The sector employs about 3% of the working population and receives 5.6% of FDI. Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the biggest technical university in Baltic countries, prepares experts for the sector.
Lithuania has over the years evolved very much so as to become one of the best places in the world to get your work outsourced and get a huge profit in return. With the outsourcing index of 5.9, Lithuania is one of the best destinations for outsourcing of various works being carried out by the IT sector. Information technology sector of Lithuania is measured as to be of 60 million US dollars which is quite large for a country which is still developing in this field. As many as 45000 people have been benefited by the outsourcing work which this country has done over the years.
Manufacturing constitutes the biggest part of gross value added in Lithuania. More than 57 thousand people were employed in food processing in 2008. The food processing sector constitutes 11% of total exports. Dairy products, especially cheese, are well known in neighbouring countries. Another important manufacturing activity is chemical products. 80% of production is exported so chemical products constitute 12.5% of total exports.
Furniture production activity employs more than 50 thousand people. This sector has grown in double-digit numbers over the last three years. The biggest companies in this field work in cooperation with IKEA and provide high quality products at competitive prices. IKEA also owns one of the biggest wood processing companies in Lithuania.
Companies in the automotive and engineering sector are relatively small but offer flexible services for small and non-standard orders at competitive prices. The sector employs about 3% of the working population and receives 5.6% of FDI. Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the biggest technical university in Baltic countries, prepares experts for the sector.
Lithuania has over the years evolved very much so as to become one of the best places in the world to get your work outsourced and get a huge profit in return. With the outsourcing index of 5.9, Lithuania is one of the best destinations for outsourcing of various works being carried out by the IT sector. Information technology sector of Lithuania is measured as to be of 60 million US dollars which is quite large for a country which is still developing in this field. As many as 45000 people have been benefited by the outsourcing work which this country has done over the years.