In the global elections of the most appealing free economic zone by the influential FDI Magazine, a special award in the European zone category went to Kaunas Free Economic Zone (FEZ). Kaunas FEZ was acclaimed for its conditions that highly favour small and medium-sized business, and for its ability to attract new investments.
Published by The Financial Times, the FDI Magazine is considered investors’ guide the world over. Companies with an eye out for expansion often consider promising regions that are referred to in the magazine, and the business conditions that they offer. The FDI Magazine’s experts picked the most attractive free economic zones based on a list of different criteria such as the size of occupied space in the zone, the number of small and medium-sized companies it accommodates, and the number of jobs they have created, to name a few.
“The high marks from the FDI Magazine were down to rapid expansion – the investments attracted, the development of an infrastructure that businesses need. Still, we don’t just aspire to grow all the time and quickly – we also want to improve the conditions so that they are appealing to businesses involved in different sectors. For instance, Kaunas FEZ should be getting its first office building next year. We hope that this will serve as a stimulus for companies engaged in the office business to move here,” says Vytautas Petružis, CEO of the Kauno LEZ management company.
The FDI Magazine appreciated the conditions that Kaunas FEZ offers to small and medium-sized companies, such as all-inclusive consultations and assistance both in the phase of establishing, and later doing business in the free economic zone. It also noted the investments that had been attracted recently, like the EUR 6.5 million investment by DPD Lietuva into its parcel sorting hub in the fall of 2015.
Kaunas FEZ accommodates a total of 24 Lithuanian and foreign-capital companies that have so far created nearly 2,000 jobs.
The makers of the list of the most attractive free economic zones also noticed the close cooperation between Kaunas FEZ and different colleges. Driven by the need, courses in Scandinavian languages were added to the curricula at Kaunas University of Technology, and its students are doing internship in different companies nested here. The rapid expansion of infrastructure was also given a great deal of appreciation, what with all of the necessary infrastructure for aviation already in place at the Air Park designed for airline bases and for servicing aircraft, and a runway-to-airport extension project underway. Transport service via surrounding roads has also been improved.
The FDI Magazine’s accolade of the free economic zone of the year went to DMCC in the United Arab Emirates. Next to Kaunas FEZ, the special issue also mentioned the free economic zones of Katowice (Poland) and Shannon (Ireland).
Earlier this year, the FDI Magazine has also cited Kaunas Region for development and potential. An award was given for these latter achievements at the property and investment event MIPIM.
