The Danish window and door manufacturer DOVISTA – the owner of such brands as VELFAC and Rationel – is to build a manufacturing base in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Marijampolė. In the next four years, the company plans to invest up to EUR 50 million and to create around 300 new jobs. More investments are planned to be implemented after 2019 and the project has potential to become the largest manufacturing complex in Lithuania.
“We chose Marijampolė for the engineering competences available in the region and the perfect infrastructure found in Marijampolė SEZ. An important determinant in making this decision was also the professional assistance provided by Ministry of Economy and Invest Lithuania and a competent and result-oriented team of the company managing the Marijampolė SEZ as well as the specialists of Marijampolė municipality. They have brilliantly represented Lithuania, that is the kind of people we want to work with,” Stig Romlund, COO of DOVISTA, said.
The products manufactured in Lithuania will be exported, mainly to UK and Ireland.
Minister for Economy Evaldas Gustas has noticed that the goal to attract big foreign manufacturing companies to regions is an integral part of the regional policy.
“Big foreign capital companies play a significant role in developing regional economy as well as in retaining highly qualified specialists in their native towns. Such companies not only create jobs but also provide employees with new skills and challenges in international companies. This is an especially important criterion for the specialists with higher qualification who otherwise would probably leave their native towns and look for more interesting jobs in cities. Thus such investments also help retain the social setup of the regions,” Mr. Gustas said.
“We have been seeking for a breakthrough in the field of production-related investments for a number of years and the decision of the Scandinavian manufacturing giant DOVISTA Group to build a production complex in Lithuania is a good sign. An investment project of this scale has immediately prompted the development of a strong cluster in the vicinity of the to-be-factory which might attract even more investors of similar size in the future,” Mantas Katinas, general manager of Invest Lithuania, a foreign direct investment development agency, said.
“The investor’s plans in terms of figures look impressive, however, money is not the only important factor. While communicating with the representatives of the company, we saw that in choosing the location for their investment they took a great consideration of social aspects and the surrounding environment. They also preferred that the future factory was a convenient workplace not only for men and women but also families which raise small children. I am sure that DOVISTA will be one of the most desired employers not only in the region but in the whole Lithuania,” Simonas Petrulis, general manager of the company operating the Marijampolė SEZ, said.
The choice of the company was largely determined not only by the fulfilment of their conventional requirements but also by the capability to meet the criteria of investment location which are important from the social perspective.
“It is a nonstandard investor not only in terms of its size but also its requirements. The company finds social responsibility no less important than the business itself. The representatives of the investor wanted the factory to be built not in an industrial area but to be surrounded by nature”, Gediminas Koryzna, acting director of the Investment Development Department of Invest Lithuania, said.
“This investment project is of paramount importance to Marijampolė. We have worked for a number of months in cooperation with Invest Lithuania and Marijampolė SEZ teams to be chosen by the company. Still, there is much work to be done – during the entire investment project we will help the company to cooperate with Marijampolė vocational training centre and other stakeholders of the project. Our aim is to help the investor set up in Marijampolė as fast as possible and to avoid any complications,” Vidmantas Brazys, the mayor of Marijampolė municipality, said.