Tiesioginės užsienio investicijos Lietuvoje: analizė ir perspektyvos ; Direct foreign investment in Lithuania:analysis and prospects
Investment is one of the major factors determining successful development of an economy. In the long term, economic growth is achievable only fostering, strengthening and maintaining economic competitiveness on the international scale. Lithuania with its small and open economy is dependent on the successful economic ties with the European Union single market and the third countries. This Master thesis aims at identifying and assessing the impediments to investment process and providing for the measures allowing to remove the obstacles encountered when attracting direct domestic and foreign investment, and to encourage the development of the Lithuanian business and growth of the national economy. The Master thesis includes the analysis research of actions aimed at attracting direct foreign investment, allowing to conclude that Lithuania does not exploit its economic potential and is lagging behind its neighbours (in particular Estonia) according to economic indicators. It is possible to state that at the moment Lithuania has favourable conditions for investment into various areas of industry and business. However, there is a lack of motivation and appeal ensuring concrete actions to be taken. Therefore, it is essential to single out the factors, which frustrate investment and pose more or less serious problems in the opinion of investors. When examining the factors determining Lithuania's attractiveness for investment, note should be taken of the interrelation between positive and negative impacts of direct foreign investment, in particular when those impacts operate in the national economy experiencing transition from planned to market economies, as such macroeconomic processes as privatisation and increasing economic integration become important in this situation. After examining the system of measures intended to promote and attract investment, it should be highlighted that Lithuania lays plans for establishing eight industrial parks, which will offer to investors an opportunity to develop their activities. For this purpose, eight municipalities were chosen to found these industrial parks. The final pages of the paper sum up the types of state support and submit the proposals how to establish a new institution (Innovation Lithuania) with the aim to create favourable conditions for . It is assumed that such reorganisation of institutional and economic presentation abroad would uniformly and purposefully assist in achieving the common aim – to attract investment and promote export and tourism.