Innovating Attraction and Diaspora Policy in Lithuania

Lukas Savickas

Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania

Background

Lukas Savickas

2016 November – now

Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania

Economic Affairs and Strategic Change Management

2008-2011

University of York,

United Kingdom

2011-2012

Maastricht University, Netherlands

2012

Per. Representation of Lithuania to EU,

Belgium

September 2012

Return to Lithuania

2013-2016

Invest Lithuania,

Lithuania

2016

Investors‘ Forum,

Lithuania

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Mėnesinis emigrantų skaičius, asmenys Mėnesinis imigrantų skaičius, asmenys Neto tarptautinė migracija, asmenys

First signs of positive

Neto migration

Negative long-term Neto Migration

and two major dips

Monthly Migration Statistics (2008-2018)

69%

What Lithuania's employers say about the labour market

Identify the need for more talent

Say that its easy to find workers

Why is talent so important?

Global investors choose us for our talent, but the need for more is

also increasing. In order to achieve growth, systematic attraction

policy is crucial

Relevant Policy pre-2017

Global Lithuania Program

• Main goal: to ensure the

ethnic and cultural

preservation of

Lithuanian diaspora,

by strengthening ties

and engaging with

Lithuanian diaspora

around the world

• Managed & coordinated

by Ministry of Foreign

Affairs

• Annual Budget ~ 3,4

mln. EUR

Scattered small initiatives

• Migration Information

Centre – providing

consultations about

returning to Lithuania

• “Create Lithuania” – a 1

year program for youth

to work in LT public

sector

• NGO “Global Lithuanian

Leaders”

• Invest Lithuania – talent

attraction events

Initiatives scattered,

run by different(12+)

institutions, ministries

all focusing on

different target

audiences

No horizontal

monitoring was being

doneDouble

Government

financing for the

same type of

initiatives

No set key

performance

indicators

Problems with pre-2017 policy

No national

strategy or

policy

implementation

plan

Leading to ineffective budget management and poor

results regarding national progress

The Creation of Lithuania‘s SystematicApproach to Attraction and Diaspora Policy

• In 2017 a portfolio of priority projects of the PM was created which would outline strategic

changes in a variety of Lithuania‘s policy areas

• „The Creation of a Talent Attraction and Retention system in Lithuania“ project was approved

as part of the portfolio and was to be managed and monitored at top level of governement

• The project aimed to:

Chose an attraction management model that was based on global best practices

such as those in Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland and adapt it to the needs of

Lithuania

Put in place a coordination mechanism - choosing a coordinating institution and

asigning clear roles for each member of the ecosystem

Create and implement long-term progress monitoring

The Integration of an Ageing

Population

Family Wellness Policy

Effective Migration

Management

Reducing emigration-

through the improvement

of economic and social

stability, emotional

wellbeing

Talent attraction and

retention policy

implementation

Diaspora Policy –

strengthening ties with

those living abroad,

involving them in aiding

the country‘s growth

Structuring the Approach to Demographic Policy

SOFT

LANDING

REPUTATION

MANAGEMENT

INTEGRATION

ATTRACTION

Largely marketing based initiatives

aiming to increase Lithuania‘s brand

Ensuring the availability of

individualised consultations

and information on tax

system, schools, migration,

healthcare, etc. for everyone

incoming into the country

Engaging Lithuania‘s

brand ambassadors to

spread the word

CONTINIOUS ECOSYSTEM

IMPROVEMENT

Ensuring up to date policy measures,

regulation improvement, etc

Policy coordination is done by the Office

of the Government of Lithuania &

National Commission for Human Capital

Monitoring and Management

The Attraction Policy Model

Ensuring the integration of

those attracted as well as

their family members

Soft-landing

Other municipalities

National level

TAX SYSTEMS

HEALTHCARE &

SOCIAL SECURITY

SYSTEM

MIGRATION

STARTING A BUSINESS EDUCATION SYSTEM HOUSING

SCHOOLS

TRANSPORT

BANKS

Regional level

Migration Information Centre

Serving as the National Information and consultation centre

• Providing individualised consultations to those who wish to relocate to Lithuania

• NGO partnership

„Go Vilnius“

The availability of consulting services are also increasing in each city,

region

Integration

Currently the strategy for ensuring integration has been approved in these key areas and will further

be developed:

Ensuring the availability of learning Lithuanian

The increased use of English in public services

Spouse integration into the labour market

Childrens’ integration into the education system

Integration through promotion of community creation

Reputation management

Using international talents who already know what living, working and studying in Lithuania is all

about to spread the word!

• Attraction ecosystem members at city and region level already engaging with international

talent in their cities

• The creation of an international students in Lithuania database and a brand ambassador

network is in place

Continiuos ecosystem improvement

In order to stay competitive up to date attraction policy and continuous improvement of

regulation is important

The Office of the Government of Lithuania will be collecting feedback and recommendations

quarterly for the improvement in regulation and policy from members of the ecosystem (relevant

government institutions, municipalities, investment promotion agencies, NGO’s, etc.)

Recommendations for improvement will be made and presented to the National Commission for

Human Capital Monitoring and Management, then prioritised and implemented

Lithuania’s model – where are we today?

• Coordinated attraction policy is being implemented through the Office of the Government of

Lithuania, each member of the ecosystem has its own role

• The 2018-2030 Strategy for Demographic, Migration and Integration policy has been approved by

parliament (September 20th, 2018)

FOCUS AREAS FOR 2019

Increasing collaboration

between institutions in

the ecosystem

Further regulation improvement increasing

Lithuania’s competitiveness

Implementing monitoring and policy quality control

New Policy Model

Implementation

Challenges: What we are still learning

Having a clear policy model as well as a place and responsibility for each institution has been a

great start. However, horizontal stakeholder management and getting everyone to collaborate

can be difficult with government institutions working in separate policy areas

National and regional level collaboration

Involving and relying on NGO‘s

Getting the private sector onboard

01

02

Creating a model that works for you

Focusing on implementation, adapting practises if needed and extending

success into further areas

THANK YOU

Lukas Savickas

Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania for Economic Affairs and Strategic

Change Management

Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania

Tel. +370 706 63 821, mob. +370 668 42 682

lukas.savickas@lrv.lt