The portal quoted Prime Minister’s advisor Mykolas Majauskas as saying, “this would be a joint centre developed by Lithuania and IBM”.  The signing of the protocol of intent should take place during the Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius’ trip to the USA in May.

Mykolas Majauskas also said that Lithuania is also planning to establish its representation in the Silicon Valley in the US, California. The advisor said to BNS, which was quoted by alfa.lt, “We will perhaps not have enough time to open it in May, but it will be done this year.”

Continuing his working visit to the U.S., Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius visited Silicon Valley, San Francisco, where he met with one of the most powerful groups in the IT sector, i.e. members of major Venture Capital Association Accel Partners and other IT investors. Accel Partners and associated investors hold many well-known IT companies, including MySpace, Walmart.com, Macromedia, etc. Henri Mossinac, who had invested in Facebook at its rudimentary stage, was also present.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius invited investors to turn an eye to Lithuania, a country that boasts highly skilled multilingual workforce and one of the best IT infrastructures in Europe and the world. According to the Prime Minister, Lithuania is an ideal place for venture capital to invest, as this is about the “investment in courage, and the Lithuanian IT sector is full of bold ideas”.

Investors got interested in the list of promising Lithuanian IT companies, drawn by the Lithuanian government.

The participants of the meeting included Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar, the only Lithuanian capital company with the head office in the Silicon Valley. GetJar has grown into a world`s largest independent mobile apps store following the investment by Rich Wong from Accel Partners.

“Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius’s visit is very important in terms of Lithuania`s image building. The information American companies have about our country is scarce. Therefore, every opportunity must be seized to increase investor awareness about investment opportunities in Lithuania, and to offer an individual and flexible approach in each investment case. I am certain that the Prime Minister’s visit will yield tangible results”, – said Ilja Laurs.

While presenting a vast array of small high-tech, alternative energy, information technology companies, the Prime Minister Mr Kubilius, noted that GetJar demonstrates how important it is to take part in international programs, which open up possibilities for a country to sell ideas and help create international business models.
Investors pointed out that low country awareness calls for harder efforts in spreading the investment message, and added that Lithuanian Prime Minister`s visit is largely contributing to this purpose.

Among other items discussed was a possibility for Lithuania to set up a representative office in the Silicon Valley with a view to raising awareness of the country and attracting investment in the IT.

Apart Accel Partners` members, the meeting was also attended by representatives from venture capital companies RedPoint Ventures, Foundation Capital, Hummer Winblad Ventures, Sierra Ventures and others.

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