Dear colleagues, friends, guests and business leaders from Lithuania, Italy, Singapore, Thailand,
Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Albania as Shanghai China:
Good morning from Vilnius!
On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Lithuania and my team from the Economic & Commercial
Office, I am honored and delighted to be invited to make a few remarks to congratulate on the
inauguration and opening of the Sail of Shanghai online event dedicated specially to products from
the Baltics.
Sail of Shanghai is no stranger to Lithuania. In Septembers of 2017 and 2018, Sail of Shanghai
organized the biggest-ever business missions of around 150 top executives from over 100 companies
to Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. These Chinese companies represented the best and
the most competitive ones in and around Shanghai from such sectors as light industry,
telecommunications, chemical industry, machinery and electronics, as well as technology and
innovation. In the B2B meetings, exhibitions and seminars during the two visits, business leaders of
both countries had extensive and in-depth discussions for further cooperation. Good impression,
business contacts and personal friendship were built between business people through these
exchanges and interactions, which eventually generated contracts, jobs and economic growth in our
respective cities and countries.
It is sad that the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic breaking out earlier this year has interrupted
normal life and caused lots of inconveniences to international travel and face-to-face meetings. But
it has failed to stop business people of different countries from interacting with each other thanks to
the great invention of internet and chambers of commerce that organize activities such as this one. I
would like to encourage business people and companies present here today to take advantage of
this online B2B arrangement to get to know each other better, find out products and services that
can meet market needs and make up for lost business opportunities.
The COVID-19 pandemic is like dark clouds in the sky which will eventually be clear one way or
another. When the page is turned, I hope Sail of Shanghai will come back to the Baltics soon. I wish
today’s online event a huge success.
Thank you for your attention.
