KLAIPEDA COUNTY - Economy
Klaipeda port dominates the county
Around 7.4% of Lithuania?s total industrial production comes from Klaipeda county. Main industries in the county include fisheries and fish processing, shipbuilding and ship repairing, wood processing, food industries, petroleum industries and manufacturing of construction materials.
Modern production methods are used by ?SY wiring technologies Lietuva? and the ship building company ?Vakaru laivu gamykla?, and their products are known to be of good quality. Beer produced by the ??vyturys - Utenos alus? company is highly appreciated by consumers.
Klaipeda port, nevertheless, is the dominating feature of the county. Domestic and transit transportation contributes considerable revenue to the county and to Lithuania. In 2002, 25.8 million tonnes of cargo are handled per year in the harbour. To some extent the future of the county is related to continuing growth at the port?s oil terminal.
A Free Economic Zone (FEZ) was established near Klaipeda city to stimulate economic development in the county, but its development has been hindered by lack of funding for infrastructure.
GDP per capita in 2001 is higher than the Lithuanian average by 10,2%, and is second after Vilnius region.
84 % of the agricultural land is arable land, and the main crops are cereal crops, potatoes, and vegetables. Livestock productivity is slightly higher than the national average.
Retail sales at constant prices in 2002, as compared with 2000, increased by 14% (as against 21% in the country as a whole). The sales area of shops in 2002 was 185600 m2 as compared to 189200 m2 in 2000.
Turnover of services in 2001 compared with 2000 increased by 3.8 (, 9.0( of all services were provided in the county.
Due to the attractiveness of Klaipeda county to foreign investors, several international companies, including Philip Morris, Masterfood and Siemens, have invested here. Klaipeda county ranks in third place for the volume of foreign direct investments and in second place in Lithuania for the volume of foreign direct investments per capita.
Some companies, such as the Klaipeda Stevedoring Company and the Lithuanian shipping company are listed among the 50 most successful companies in Lithuania.
The best transport infrastructure in the country
As the focal point of the county, Klaipeda city is an important junction for sea, land and air transport. Its port is linked to the rest of Lithuania and neighbouring countries by a well-developed network of roads, such as the Klaipeda ? Kaunas highway, which meets European standards, and connects with the international ?Via Baltica?.
The railway network is dense at the seafront. The most important railway for the transport of transit cargo is the Kaliningrad - Vilkavi?kis ? Moscow line. Klaipeda?s railway is the largest in Lithuania by volume of cargo handled and transit transportation.
Palanga airport, situated 25 km from Klaipeda city, offers connections to Billund (Denmark), Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin (Germany), Kristianstad and Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo (Norway).
The road network is well developed. At the end of 2002 the length of roads was 5891 km, of which 94.6 ( of all roads are paved, and density of roads 1131 km per 1000 km 2 In 2001, there were 341 individual passenger cars per 1000 population, which is the second highest rate in the country after Marijampole county.
The port of Klaipeda is currently under reconstruction, which should almost double its capacity. The main cargo shipped from the Klaipeda seaport is metal, followed by petroleum products and fertilisers. The main products entering Klaipeda port are food and fodder. About 58( of the cargo is in transit. One of the advantages of Klaipeda county is the recently opened Butinge oil terminal, the most modern in Europe, capable of handling up to 8 million tons of petroleum products per year. Passenger traffic consists of ferry lines to Kiel, Mucrane and Stockholm. There are regular passenger-cargo connections with 15 other countries as well.
|
|