Interview: Belt and Road Initiative important for dynamic cooperation between Lithuania,China: Lithuanian ambassador

Lithuanian Ambassador to China told Xinhua on Friday that the Belt and Road Initiative is very important for the dynamic cooperation between Lithuania and China.

Ina Marciulionyte, Lithuania's ambassador to China who took office last autumn, told Xinhua in an interview that the initiative is a priority in China, and "it's a very good initiative. It brings us closer to China."

Together with countries along the lines of the initiative, Lithuania should use it in a very dynamic way and make use of this good opportunity to boost cooperation among the countries, according to Marciulionyte.

"I think our business people also understand it's a big opportunity and because of that we have lots of delegations going to both sides now, trying to see how to find the best way to use it," she added.

"In this initiative, we can serve as a logistic center and transport hub," she noted about Lithuania's role in this initiative.

The ambassador pointed out that this initiative could be "additional stimulus to start even more dynamic cooperation with China."

"We need to be wise and to use it in a right way, meaning that we need to mobilize our people, to work on this initiative," she believed.

Marciulionyte added, "China is a very important player in the world economy, and I could say that China really created a miracle, and developed really rapidly, and created so many good things."

Marciulionyte has been to China a few times in past years, and during her term as ambassador from last autumn, she was amazed by how IT technology is used in China. "You see how well it is developed. And you also see how advanced this country is," she said.

In her view, with China's fast development and Lithuania's advantages on location, talent pool, developed infrastructure, the status as gateway to Europe's vast market, favorable tax policies for foreign companies, the two countries have already conducted cooperation in many fields. The two sides could enhance it in the fields of economy, culture, tourism, health, food, education, etc.

According to her experiences in many Chinese cities, Lithuania's products are very well accepted by Chinese people. Lithuanian performance, food, books, art, basketball, etc. have huge potential in China.

"Our future of mutual cooperation is very good, and we simply need to work and support our people," she said. Endit