Where should Lithuania invest? It is time to ask uncomfortable questions

Lithuania’s regional investment debate has moved beyond the question of how to spend European Union funds. At the 2026 Regional Policy Forum, speakers urged authorities to ask what investments can actually change life in the regions.

Interior Vice Minister Vaidotas Jakštas named three broad directions for investment: security and resilience, living conditions and connectivity, and the quality of public services. He was speaking about the next EU financial period, which begins in 2028.

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These days, it is security and resilience. Another very important direction is living conditions and connectivity. That means people’s ability to live where they want to live.

Deputy Finance Minister Rūta Carik said the European Union faced declining competitiveness, an aging population and migration challenges. For Lithuania’s regions, she identified stronger human resources, attracting investment and improving public services as priorities. Businesses that move into the regions need qualified workers, she said. Public services include transport, health care, education and preschool provision.

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I would see three main directions where we should focus attention and investment in the regions: first, strengthening human resources. The second direction would be attracting investment, and it is closely linked to the first because businesses coming to the regions expect to have workers. Workers must be qualified.

Jaroslav Narkevič, chairman of the parliamentary State Governance and Municipalities Committee, said a safe and comfortable environment depended on access to jobs, infrastructure, education and health care. He argued that institutions and municipalities should determine specific project needs while addressing population decline and reducing regional differences.

Audrius Klišonis, president of the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania and mayor of Plungė district, compared the choices to leaving three fingers and cutting off the rest. He placed education first, followed by investment in higher and high-value-added industry and municipal housing. The goal, he said, should be to develop people who can do more than work on a production line and can create new value.

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You asked such a question: you have ten fingers, three must remain and the others must be cut off. That is probably not the most pleasant procedure.