Lithuanian business is doomed to fail - with emigration of cheap labor, we have nothing to compete in the market. We are complete losers in innovation

    "Lithuania is still among the outsiders of the European Union in the World Innovation Index - although it has climbed one step, it is ahead of only four European Union countries. We are a weak average among the richest countries in terms of innovation.

    The annual index compiled annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations, has seen little change this year, with the top three for some time being made up of the same countries: Switzerland, Sweden and the United States, followed by the United Kingdom.

    Lithuania took 39th place. Estonia, the partner of the Baltic competition, ranks 21st. It is generally among the countries where innovation is developing faster, than expected. Estonia achieves extremely high performance in infrastructure - it ranks 8th in the world. The country has probably the best e-government services in the world (2nd place) and ranks 1st in the electronic participation of citizens. Estonia stands out for its very high student achievement in the disciplines of reading, mathematics and science (4th place).

    Returning to Lithuania, we see that in comparison with other members of the highest income category, our country, Lithuania, did not shine either - it took 36th place among 51 countries.

    WIPO's verdict is uncomfortable: 31 countries have emerged below expectations this year in terms of innovation, depending on the level of development of the countries. Among them are only three EU countries - Lithuania, Greece and Romania.

    Lithuania performed best in the category of institutional favoritism for innovation, in which it took 33rd place. In the subcategories of this section, the organization praised the country's political stability (13th place), but not so well the power of the government (30th place).

    At the same time, WIPO issued a minus to Lithuania for the low percentage of GDP devoted to education, according to which we remained only 75 in the world. Not a single party, not a single government has been navigating the puzzle of education reform for years, but even today we are still at the "weak".

    Only 71 place is ours in the business environment, which is also a sub-category of institutional innovation-friendly. This indicator was pushed down by the poor situation related to solving business insolvency problems.

    VŽ reminds: back in 2019. Virginijus Sinkevičius, the then Minister of Economy and Innovation, presenting Lithuania's forecast in the recently discontinued Doing Business rating, said that the country's rating would be significantly raised in 2020. The Law on Insolvency of Legal Entities entered into force in 2006, providing for simplified processes that better meet the needs of business.

    However, the Minister's forecasts did not come true: WIPO did not notice any progress in this area (or maybe it did not exist?).

    Lithuania cannot boast of the availability of financing for business (44th place) - the fact that it is difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to obtain financing, it has been said for a long time, in the term of everyone government, but the situation is not improving, as the WIPO index shows.

    Jonė Kalendienė, head of the research and analysis department of Entrepreneurial Lithuania (VL), says that Lithuania is making progress in the field of innovation, but that progress is not faster than in other countries around it. As a result, a significant breakthrough in the innovation index is not being achieved - it is limited to fluctuations in the tail of the top ten. "

user1123 summarizes the situation best:

    "Huge corruption at all levels drives talented people out of the country (or destroys their potential by preventing it from unfolding) and how cancer erodes us over the years. No new innovation strategy will change the substance until thieves and scammers go to jail. Only free, quality and easily accessible education may secure future achivements, but as we can see, Lithuania is on the opposite path, where studying is becoming a luxury. "