The following industries are being developed in the County: shipbuilding, technical repair and maintenance, construction materials, wood-processing, food, tobacco, etc. In the service sector, the dominant activities are: finance and banking, telecommunication services, and the transport business. The main products produced in Klaipėda County are meat, fish and milk products, bread, confectionery, beer, cigarettes, clothes, furniture, paper and pasteboard, automotive wiring and cable kits, ship fittings and parts, oil, feedstuff for cats and dogs, bricks, roofing, ropes, flax fibre and peat. There are non-traditional industrial branches developed in the County as well, such as wind energy, geothermic water energy, sapropel mining and pisciculture.
The employees of Klaipėda county create almost 12% of Lithuania’s GDP, and generate 14% of the country’s overall export. The main foreign trade partners of companies working in this county are Latvia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, Poland and Denmark.
At the beginning of 2009, there were 6205 conomic entities in operation in the city of Klaipėda A large number of these businesses were engaged in wholesale and retail trade (23.7%), while other groups benefited from growth in real estate and renting (20.1%), transport and warehousing (10.9%), construction (10.1%) and social service activities (19.4%).
Most of the companies in Klaipėda City by legal form are joint stock companies and individual enterprises. By number of employees, most of the companies are ranked as micro companies – 76.9% of the entire number of companies (4548 companies with up to 10 employees), small companies are in second place with 17.5% (1038 companies with up to 50 employees), medium -sized companies account for 4.8% (282 companies with up to 250 employees), and large companies account for ~0.7% (39 companies). There are 5 large enterprises exceeding 1000 employees.
The continued increase in foreign direct investments has demonstrated the attractiveness of Klaipėda county as an investment destination. On January 1, 2009 foreign direct investment in the county amounted to 897 million EUR, reflecting a 7 percent increase over the previous year. Direct foreign investment in the county of Klaipėda accounts for 9.8 percent of the entire foreign direct investment in the country.
International companies such as Mars, Philip Morris, Yazaki, Indorama, Neo Group, Odense Steel Shipyard, and many other international and local corporations are attracted to Klaipėda’s friendly business environment, ice-free general cargo port, the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone, and its great connections to the east and west.
Due to its favourable geographical position, Klaipėda has become a transit gateway for both east-west and north-south trade. The city offers very attractive and efficient cargo delivery solutions, allowing businesses to transport goods quickly and cost-effectively. Two large capacity cargo trains – Mercury (container train) and Viking (container and contrailer train) – start their journey in Klaipėda and head toward several eastern destinations.
