Armonaitė: First focus on business support, then less bureaucracy, innovation

Ingrida Šimonytė, the candidate for the post of Prime Minister, presented the candidacy of the Minister of Economy and Innovation to President Gitan Nausėda.

“Of course, we will get to work when the company needs help. And, in principle, we will have to do everything we can to get the help to those affected by quarantine and COVID-19 as quickly as possible. This is a dictated priority. for the same situation ”, says A. Armonaitė to Delfi.

It details that the objective will be to maintain the aid measures in force, such as tax deferrals and compensation for downtime.

“Regarding subsidies or loans, I see that two main criteria are planned: 30%. Drop in turnover and 40 percent. Sectoral criteria. It seems to me that those criteria should be as simple as possible. If the turnover has decreased, it is probably not due to quarantine or COVID-19. Perhaps we can only follow this criterion, “said A. Armonaitė.

He stressed that his candidacy has not yet been approved and, furthermore, perceptions may change as he takes on the job in the ministry: “We don’t want to erase the contribution that the ministry has made so far. We want to work together and keep the positive. “

The second priority was to reduce bureaucracy and regulation so that “the public authorities that control and regulate the companies consult, not punish”; job creators must feel that the authorities are competent to help them.

“The third thing is a breakthrough in digitization and innovation. This priority requires a greater focus in the sense that the results will not be achieved immediately but in the future. We also need to strengthen the ministry itself in this area – more competition, etc. . “, says A. Armonaitė.

He went on to say that the focus would also be on “traditional areas”: investment attraction, industry, exports, “which is the steam engine of our economy.”

“We should do everything possible to find more opportunities for Lithuanian companies around the world. Among these priorities, one of those horizontal priorities would be green and circular economy. Even though the Ministry of Economy and Innovation is not the Ministry of the Environment, but in the 21st century we must look at everything we do through the priorities of green policy ”, said A. Armonaitė.

He assured that existing EU investments will be reviewed, including those established in the DNA Plan for the future economy.

“First, we need to have a couple of criteria to probably make the investments planned for the future pay off, not just spend them. I think this is very important. The money that was in that plan should be allocated to the future of Lithuania, and we will be guided by the following priorities: return and that investments have a contribution in the future ”, says A. Armonaitė.

A. Armonaitė assured that the proposed position is a great honor for her, the economy and innovations were one of the priorities of the “Freedom” party.

“This is basically an opportunity to lay the foundation for such an economy that would make Lithuania a successful state in the future, so that we do not get caught in the middle income trap to innovate, and for that I am very honored.” I am glad.

He summarized that it would be based on the experience of the people who work in the ministry.

“I would really like to cooperate. I really appreciate the experience and I know that there are people with experience working in the ministry. We will bring our political priorities, which were also described and communicated during the Freedom Party campaign, as well as prepare the Government program. I hope that we, with the staff, with the ministry team, will achieve the goals. I want to emphasize that we are not planning cleanings. We would like the officials who work today and pay that tribute to the state from morning to night so that sit back and know that we need your expertise, ”said A. Armonaitė.