Prime Minister in Singapore: Involvement of Women is Key Element of Success of Lithuania’s Tech Sector
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who is on a working visit to Singapore, attended the AsiaTech conference on Friday, where she gave a speech on the empowerment and involvement of women in the technology sector.
In her speech, the Prime Minister reviewed the progress of data-driven governance in Lithuania, as data has become particularly important in the face of crises and challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, illegal migration organised by the Belarusian regime and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
‘Each of these situations required rapid decision-making, situation related alertness and a clear sense of whether we were moving in the right direction. During the pandemic, for example, we had to be sure every day that we had enough medical staff and resources in our hospitals to make the best decisions. At a time of challenges, we have significantly expanded our data map to include detailed information on morbidity, hospital occupancy, and situation at the state border, to name just a few. Data has been essential in managing each specific situation. Today, the data on which the Government takes decisions is collected and updated on a daily basis,’ said Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
This is a significant change compared with the situation a dozen years ago and quarterly datasets available in previous times of challenges, such as the 2008 financial crisis, the Head of Government recalled in her speech.
As Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė pointed out, involvement of women in various fields is an important component of Lithuania’s innovativeness. According to the data of Startup Lithuania, 38% of Lithuanian start-up founders include at least one woman, and mentoring programmes such as Women Go Tech have been successfully increasing the share of women in technology related professions year after year.
Today women are often seen in leading positions in Lithuania, the Prime Minister emphasised at the conference.
‘I am proud of the fact that society of Lithuania appreciates the talents of women in all spheres - politics, civil service, business and elsewhere. Of course, we are still quite far away from a universal 50:50 distribution, but that would not be a rational ambition. Encouraging women to pursue their dreams without limiting their goals, helping them to reconcile family and professional life, achieving equal pay for the same work - that is a rational ambition. And in pursuing it, I believe we are on the right track,’ said the Prime Minister.
On Friday Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė also welcomed the participants of the Lithuania-Singapore Business Forum, outlining Lithuania’s strengths and the favourable conditions for foreign investments in the country. The Head of Government invited people to discover Lithuania as a business destination and a gateway to the market of 500 million European Union consumers.
Prime Minister also met with Lim Lay Yew, founder and CEO of Esco Lifesciences, which is developing activities and planning to expand in Lithuania, as well as Lennon Tan, President of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation on Friday. At the meetings, the Prime Minister emphasised that Singapore is one of the priority markets for the development of economic relations in the Indo-Pacific region for Lithuania, and that ensuring favourable business conditions for investment has been and will remain one of the key priorities of the Government.