The Ministry of Finance Outlines the Guidelines for Lithuanian Fintech: the Goal Is to Become the Leaders of This Sector in Europe

The development of the Lithuanian financial technology (“Fintech”) sector should gain even greater momentum in the next five years, and the ultimate goal is to become an internationally recognized high-added-value European Fintech centre. This is planned in the guidelines for the development of the Lithuanian Fintech sector for 2023-2028, which have been prepared by the Ministry of Finance with partners and presented today.

At the event, the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Lithuania, PI “Invest Lithuania”, PI “GO Vilnius”, “Rockit”, BCCS cluster, association “Fintech Hub LT” and association “Infobalt” signed the Memorandum on the implementation of the Action Plan for the development of the financial technology sector in Lithuania for 2023-2028. The memorandum provides that the public authorities and market participants will achieve the main goal set in the guidelines through joint efforts.

“Over the past six years, we have achieved a real breakthrough in the Fintech sector in the country, and further qualitative development of this sector is one of our priorities. Therefore, we aim not only to strengthen the position of Lithuania as a regional financial technology centre, but we also aim for our country to be universally recognized as a European Fintech centre with high added value. The guidelines for the development of this sector prepared together with partners provide for the essential works necessary for the implementation of this goal,” said Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė.

According to the Minister, for the successful and sustainable development of the sector, it is important to ensure the qualitative development of the sector, the development of competences and talents, as well as risk management and increasing maturity of companies. The aim will also be to attract companies offering innovative solutions to Lithuania and to increase the awareness of Lithuania as a jurisdiction.

By promoting the qualitative development of the sector, the Ministry of Finance will analyse the problems of attracting capital for companies (especially in the later stages of the growth of companies) and, if necessary, will offer possible solutions – for example, by attracting international investors, increasing the volume of INVEGAS business support measures, or making better use of the funds provided by the European Union and possibilities provided by other funds.

An adequate supply of highly skilled talents is vital to the Fintech market. Therefore, it is intended to strengthen cooperation with higher education institutions, a significant number of which have already initiated programmes or courses aimed at training specialists needed in Fintech, this would allow maintaining stable and sustainable growth of the sector in the future, reducing the likelihood of a shortage of professional employees.

In order to better manage the potential risks of Fintech, more attention will be paid to training, consulting – this will increase the clarity of regulatory requirements and the maturity of companies. It is also planned to strengthen the management of emerging risks – money laundering, terrorist financing, cyber fraud and others – and to improve the cooperation of public authorities and the exchange of information.

One of Lithuania’s greatest strengths is the close and open cooperation between public authorities and market participants in solving emerging problems and achieving set goals. It will be difficult for other countries to repeat this success story of Lithuania – this is also shown by the five-year action plan for the development of Fintech in Lithuania prepared by the Ministry of Finance, which consists of 59 measures and will be implemented by as many as 26 interested parties – public authorities, public institutions and associations.

“The preparation and coordination of the guidelines and their implementation plan brought together the country’s best experts, representatives of the market and Lithuanian institutions, and the result of the joint work is a document that outlines long-term national and international goals for the entire sector,” says G. Skaistė.

The guidelines for the development of the Fintech sector in Lithuania for the next five years are important for the development of the financial technology ecosystem and for licensed participants, technological companies, public sector institutions and many others.