One of the main advantages Lithuania offers foreign businesses is its excellent geographic location. As a production market having an easy access to large EU and CIS markets Lithuania attracts more and more European companies. Contrary to China where the prices are also low, Lithuania is closer to their shops in Europe so the delivery time to the main warehouses is shorter. Good communications system and proximity with Lithuania saves foreign companies both time and money.
Strategically located between the EU and the CIS and being part of the EU single market, Lithuania has been acknowledged as the major transport centre in the region. It is split on the border between East and West, as well as South and North. Two big routes running through Lithuania have been named by the EU Transport Commission as among the ten most important in Europe. Those are: the North-South highway and the rail route connecting Scandinavia with Central Europe and the East-West route linking substantial Eastern markets with the rest of Europe. Two Trans-European Transport Network Corridors are used for transporting big amounts of cargo across the territory of Lithuania: the Ist North-South corridor and branches of the IXth East-West corridor.
The ice-free seaport Klaipėda is the most important among eastern Baltic ports linking roads and sea routes in the East-West direction. Klaipeda handles cargoes to and from Russia and Asia at one end and European countries, the US, and South America at the other. According to the Lithuanian Department of Statistics, the port handles about 30 million tons of cargo each year which is still expected to grow. In 2004, cargo handled by the port made 20% of the cargo passing through eastern Baltic ports.
The Lithuanian railway system providing efficient railway cargo and passenger carriage services is linked with the rail networks of the other Baltic States as well as the CIS countries. Direct rail routes connect Lithuania with Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Poland, and Germany.
Last but not least, Lithuania has a well-organized air navigation infrastructure which is being renewed according to the Eurocontrol standards. Three of the four Lithuanian international airports in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga have been included into the Trans-European Transport network.
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Lithuanian Infrastructure: Investment-friendly Transport and Communications System
