Representatives from Mažeikiai District Municipality, Lithuania traveled to Porsgrunn, Norway to learn about business development practices in the context of circular economy. The trip included a visit to Herøya industrial park, business incubator and technology cluster with the aim of exploring future perspectives and cooperation opportunities.
The mayor of the municipality Vidmantas Macevičius, the adviser to the mayor Virgilijus Radvilas and the member of the Seimas (Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania) Laima Nagienė met with the heads of the industrial park, business incubator and technology cluster in Porsgrunn municipality.
Herøya Industrial Park is located on an area of 150 hectares near the city, has access to a shallow seaport and houses 80 companies. Over 2,500 high value-added jobs have been created over the past 20 years and more than €2 billion has been invested. 85% of the production there is exported to other countries.
The business incubator provides real support for the development of good business ideas. For the first 3 months (pre-incubation period), companies receive 100% assistance with costs, after which and up to 3 years, 75% is covered by the incubator. There are currently 39 companies in the incubator. More than half of the companies enter the market successfully at the end of their incubator period.
During the meeting, presentations were given on the business development activities in Porsgrunn and the importance of circular economy activities and innovations. The guests from Lithuania introduced Mažeikiai municipality’s activities as well as the plans for developing an industrial park in Mažeikiai. Creating cooperation opportunities between the two cities and their business people in the future was also proposed.
It was also agreed with the head of the technology cluster to organize a “bridge” between Mažeikiai and Porsgrunn business enterprises in the summer. If the situation due to the response to Covid-19 allows, Mažeikiai entrepreneurs will be invited to take part in a conference in Norway and establish direct contacts with business representatives from the two countries.
Later the same day, a remote meeting took place with leaders of the Norwegian Business Confederation to discuss circular economy and the importance of circular waste management processes in Norway and future prospects for the Baltic market. It was agreed to continue such discussions in the future and representatives of the Confederation were invited to visit Lithuania.
The Circular Based Waste Management project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation – www.eeagrants.org.
You can read about the visit in Lithuanian at the website of Mažeikiai District Municipality here.
