In the meeting, cooperation in the energy and transport sectors was primarily discussed, especially the construction of a gas terminal, the shale gas potentialities in Poland, development in the electricity area and the progress achieved on the Rail and Via Baltica projects.

According to the Lithuanian Economy Ministry, such protocol came as a conclusion of the work carried out by the Lithuanian-Polish Intergovernmental Economic Cooperation Commission. Minister Lapinskas praised the ongoing cooperation with its geographical neighbor by expressing that “since it was the first such meeting since 2009, I am glad that we renewed discussions on strengthening our bilateral economic cooperation. I am pleased that we managed to reach agreements with the Polish representatives on many important issues. Cooperation with Poland, which is Lithuania’s strategic economic partner, is very significant. At the intergovernmental meeting, we exchanged up-to-date information on the implementation of projects of importance to both economies, especially in the areas of energy, transport and tourism.”

In 2012, Poland ranked amongst the top 5 Lithuania’s trading partners at a volume of 5.944 billion litas (EUR 1.72 b). Furthermore, Lithuania’s neighbor ranks seventh in terms of exports (2.075 billion litas) and third in regards to imports (3.368 billion litas). On the other hand, foreign direct investment (FDI) from Poland totaled 4.283 billion litas in 2011 and it has increased to 5.475 billion litas in the first quarter of this year. Perhaps due to this dramatic and healthy economic expansion in both countries, Mr. Andrzej Dycha, Polish Deputy Economy Minister, sat down in an exclusive interview with the news agency ELTA in which he praised business development conditions in Lithuania.

According to Mr. Dycha, “on our map Lithuania is the second one in terms of foreign investment attraction, you are surpassed only by Sweden. Bilateral trade relations between Lithuania and Poland are being intensively developed. The increase of exports also comes from favourable investment environment in Lithuania and good personal contacts which Poles are happy with.”

When asked about possible investment fears regarding the ongoing financial crisis, Mr. Dycha answered by emphasizing that “during the last financial crisis, both Lithuania and Poland found themselves exceptional as their GDP was growing. In 2011, Lithuanian GDP grew by 5.9 percent.” He concluded that despite the current challenges, he does not foresee any EU collapse, noting that despite many historical crisis, the EU always ended up stronger and more competitive.