The triumph of Vilnius in Cannes: the European City of the Future Award!

Today, Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius has picked up the award for the Vilnius City in the biggest real estate contact fair MIPIM 2018 in Cannes, during the award ceremony held by Investment division fDi Intelligence of the Financial Times.

Vilnius’ strategy for attracting investments has been recognised as one of the best in Europe. The city became the third best European city of the future in the elections of the most attractive European investment destinations.

The award-giving fDi Magazine is seen by the international community as a barometer for the attractiveness of cities and regions for investment. The biannual fDi Magazine rankings have served a baseline for many investors looking for an appropriate destination.

The ranking that builds on the investment attraction strategy has placed Vilnius the third within the category of mid-sized European cities of the future. Here, Vilnius has succeeded to overtake Liverpool, Bilbao, Port, Newcastle, Poznań, Ostrava, and Brno, giving way however to Bordeaux (France) and Szczecin (Poland).

According to Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius, this recognition is a real door-opener in terms of future investments and a solid tool in negotiations with potential investors.

‘Foreign experts have noticed and appreciated the consistent and focused efforts of Vilnius to create a new generation city, open for state-of-the art technologies and hungry for the bravest ideas. These efforts have already given their fruit – we are not only visible, but also leading in our category. It means that other cities are already looking up at us as a role model, and the investors regard us as an actual opportunity. We will not miss these chances employing them for the benefit of Vilnius, the city of the future,’ said Mr. Šimašius.

fDi Intelligence, which is the division of Financial Times, analysed the city’s strategy for attracting direct investments in the category of investment attraction and the capacity to attract and retain foreign investment, also additional activities whereby the city ensures the quality of services. The Vilnius investment attraction strategy created by Go Vilnius has been highly regarded by an independent team of experts of fDi Intelligence, which also included Douglas Clark, Director of the international consultancy company Location Connections.

This year, Vilnius has been successful in other categories too. Vilnius has made to the top three in the category of human resources and lifestyle. In the category of cost efficiency, the capital was the sixth. As regards the economic potential, Vilnius made it to the top ten.

The totality of the fDi ranking scores have placed Vilnius as the fourth most attractive investment destination in Europe within the category of mid-sized cities.