Success Stories
Providing products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products, the world’s second biggest corporation GENERAL ELECTRIC (GE) serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. The company expanded its operations to Lithuania in 2006 with the opening of the Lithuanian office of its branch GE’s TIP Trailer Services, which is Europe’s leading logistics services provider. The inclusion of Lithuania allows GE’s TIP Trailer Services to establish a network covering the entire Baltic Region.
German-based DEMATIC, a global leader in logistics automation equipment supply, launched its engineering office in Lithuania’s industrial centre Kaunas in 2007. The biggest technical university in the Baltics is located in Kaunas, and, also, Lithuania’s proximity to one of DEMATIC’s major markets, Scandinavia, were strong factors influencing DEMATIC’s decision to select Lithuania. Other factors that had a significant influence were a well-developed infrastructure, air links, competitive costs as well as business-favourable labour market trends. This facility is now DEMATIC’s second engineering consulting office after the UK for the company’s activity in the Northern European area. DEMATIC expects to have a staff of 70 engineers in four years in Lithuania.
RGE ENGINEERING, a privately owned UK company specialising in the design and manufacture of a variety of plastic components and operating not only in the UK, but also in China, the USA and Portugal, entered Lithuania in 2007. The company established a manufacturing site in Northern Lithuania. RGE ENGINEERING selected Lithuania for its central, advantageous location in the Eastern European region for the further expansion of business.
In 2006 Lithuania and its capital Vilnius were selected as the best location for the regional business expansion of AUTOLOGIC GROUP, the leading independent automotive logistics supplier in Europe. According to the head of AUTOLOGIC GROUP John Merry, Lithuania was selected to establish an office to service the whole region of Eastern Europe, because it has an exceptionally highly developed transport sector, a very favourable geographical location (close to Russian and other eastern markets), and local managers are very competent and speak more than one foreign language.
Operating in 75 countries, IBM, the world’s largest IT company, selected Lithuania as the most promising country for the prospective expansion after an analysis of development perspectives of IBM branches in the region of Eastern Europe. Lithuanian IBM is servicing the whole Nordic Europe Region, including Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, as well as the Baltic States.
The Japanese IT leader in customer relations management (CRM) solutions and marketing systems, INTERLOGICS, which services the largest Japanese companies such as Sony, Borland Japan, AOL Japan, IDG Japan etc, established a representative office in Lithuania, which has successfully been coordinating the expansion of Japanese investment in other European countries since 2003.
At the end of 2004, one of the world’s largest plastic products manufacturers, INDORAMA of Thailand, started construction of the Orion Global PET, a major high-tech PET granule manufacturing plant in the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone. The sum of investments will reach EUR 86 m.
Lithuania has been one of the main wood and furniture suppliers for IKEA, one of the world’s largest home furnishings companies, operating 165 stores in Europe, North America and Asia and sourcing products from approximately 1,600 suppliers in 55 countries. In 2008 IKEA made an investment into one of the largest furniture factories in Lithuania to further develop the company’s business in the Baltic Sea Region.
In 2002, TRANSCOM WORLDWIDE, Europe’s largest geographic CRM solution provider for companies in a wide range of industry sectors, entered Lithuania. Since then TRANSCOM WORLDWIDE has expanded to almost 800 employees who provide professional customer relations management services and information for many international companies in a multitude of industries in Lithuania, Estonia, the UK, Germany, Ireland, other European countries, and the U.S.A.; in English, German, French, Polish, Russian, Danish, and other languages.
The global leader in IT services, employing 91,000 professionals around the world, COMPUTER SCIENCE CORPORATION (CSC) of the United States, entered the Lithuanian market in 2008. Lithuania was selected by the company as the geographically best place for the expansion of business in the Baltic Sea Region. Also, Lithuania was evaluated as the country maintaining very close and successful business relations with Northern European countries. Now there are 80 employees in the representative company based in Vilnius. In the coming 5 years the number is planned to grow to 400.
CITCO, a group of companies specializing in the global financial services industry (business solutions, fund services, banking and custody) for over 65 years, and employing over 4,200 people worldwide in 37 countries, opened its office in Vilnius in 2007. CITCO has recruited 55 employees and it expects to expand to 120.
MIRROR, a leading European provider of debt-related administrative services to banks, insurance & finance and telecom & utilities companies, retail and SMEs in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and the Baltic States, started its activities on the Lithuanian market in 2002. LINDORFF evaluated the high quality of Lithuanian human resources as well as low business operation costs, and now has a team of more than 30 people in Lithuania.
CIE AUTOMOTIVE, a global full service supplier of components and subassemblies for the automotive market (VW, Renault, General Motors, Ford, PSA, Continental etc.), employing more than 12,000 people worldwide, established a company with a staff of 100 in Lithuania in 2007. CIE AUTOMOTIVE in Lithuania has been successfuly manufacturing automotive parts for exports.
KOEI, the North American subsidiary of KOEI Co., Ltd. of Japan and a leading content provider in the highly competitive global video game industry established a company in Lithuania in 2004. Today KOEI maintains operations in Japan, the U.S., the UK, Canada, China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Lithuania. A team of 23 professionals at Lithuania KOEI develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software for video game systems and personal computers, and is planning to double its human resources.
ALBRIGHT INTERNATIONAL, the manufacturer of the most popular and extensively used solenoid switches throughout the world, founded in 1946, entered the Lithuanian market and opened a factory UAB Albright Lietuva in Klaipėda FEZ in 2008. ALBRIGHT has been profitably manufacturing its production in the Klaipėda FEZ, which offers special business operation conditions. The production has been 100 % exported to the USA and Western European countries.
