Antanas GUOGA Member of the European Parliament ASP 08 H 243 Rue Wiertz 60, 1047 Brussels, Belgium Tel.: +32 2 283 75 22 E-mail: antanas.guoga@ep.europa.eu
Dear Tech industry, Following recent events in the United States where President Trump signed an executive order so called ''Muslim ban'', as a member of the European Parliament I condemn such actions as severe violation of human rights as well as breach of agreements under international law. This Monday I have started collecting signatures supporting my motion for the European Parliament’s resolution on fighting discrimination based on racial background, religion and nationality which has gained support from the major political groups. I want to assure you that I will do my utmost to ensure that even the slightest discrimination won’t be tolerated. Furthermore, I would like to remind you that contrary to the U.S., the EU and especially my country Lithuania respects cultural diversity and recognises it as an essential element for fostering democracy and growth. Unlike the U.S., this January Lithuania adopted new immigration friendly legislation which aims to attract ambitious non-EU entrepreneurs to the country and make it easier and more convenient for non-EU nationals and their family members to obtain residence permit. Naturally, I question why would you stay somewhere where you are not welcome? Move your business and live where you are respected and which is a great place for your business to operate and expand. That country is Lithuania. You won’t be the first to do so. In the recent years, global tech and financial companies discovered Lithuania, and especially its capital Vilnius, as a great place for their businesses. Barclays has thousands of employees in Vilnius and has just chosen this city for one of their 6 start-up hubs in the world. Danske bank moved their IT service centre for its group of companies which is one of the three biggest investors in Lithuania. Uber recently opened its engineering centre here. Why Lithuania? Because we can offer great prices and great quality of life combined with a multilingual talent hub of hard-working, tech minded and creative high-achievers. You won’t spend hours while commuting and they will be able to afford a nice house on a lakeshore 20 min drive from their office or a nice apartment in the city. Lithuania is no. 1 in the EU in terms of both its broadband speed and fibre-to-premises penetration. In 2015 the country was voted 1st globally for fulfilling business requirements for communication technology by the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and it was the fastest in Europe to recover after the economic crisis. It is also worth mentioning Lithuania’s progressive approach to fintech regulation and the continuously growing talent pool of this sub-sector witnessed by operations of established financial giants and ambitious start-ups alike.
Antanas GUOGA Member of the European Parliament Lithuanian capital Vilnius ranks amongst Top 10 European cities best for starting a business (by inc.com). It takes 3 days to fully setup in Vilnius. Lithuania is ranked 20th in the world according to Doing Business rankings, we are amongst world leaders in ease of starting a business, registering property and enforcing contracts. But most importantly, Lithuania is ready to go an extra mile to help you and welcome you.
Best regards, Member of the European Parliament
Antanas Guoga