. clearly, then, in order to achieve real results, we must act on several fronts at once while bearing in mind the big picture. firstly, we have to create regulatory labour market instruments that combine employer flexibility and safety of the employee. moreover, such instruments should stimulate more active participation of different population groups in the labour market. i am thus thrilled that the keynote speech will shortly be delivered by professor werner eichhorst, one of the most prominent experts of labour market regulation policy in europe. it is also obvious that lithuania is in desperate need of long - term and far - sighted migration policy to both entice emigrants to return home and attract foreign workers. what is more, when discussing quantity, we should not forget quality, especially if we seek to prepare ourselves for technological changes and the impending fourth industrial revolution. what skills will be most in demand? no one knows. and anyone who thinks they do are probably mistaken. as the astronaut buzz aldrin once said, ‘ you promised me colonies on mars. and instead, i got... facebook ’. i take this to mean that we can only guess what the future has in store for us. which is why we have to move towards an educational system that is flexible and oriented towards lifelong learning, both formal and informal, including adult education and effective retraining. such a system is the only way to prepare our people for rapid structural change. lastly, we need a real regional policy – one that is effective and adequate for the current situation. one that would not only help maintain economic life throughout lithuania, but would also prompt a shift towards higher value - added economic activities. undoubtedly, education should have an especially important place in this policy in order to ensure equally good quality of education to all children in all parts of the country. in lithuania, schoolchildren in cities are ahead of their peers in rural areas by one year in assessment of their mathematics skills. this difference is two times larger than the average for the developed countries4. hence, we are not providing equal opportunities for young people to graduate from school, obtain high - level qualifications and find a well - paid job. and this is an especially unfair form of inequality of opportunities. it creates a vicious cycle : the number of jobs that ensure dignified income in rural regions is not increasing, at least not at a rate that we would like. yet, with the lack of a qualified labour force, investors who create high added - value are not coming to

these regions – so they are not creating such work places. dear colleagues, as i have mentioned, we have chosen the topic of the labour market for this conference because we consider it one of today ’ s most burning issues. additionally, we chose it because economists ’ projections, unfortunately, show the worst - case scenarios as the more likely ones. but the main reason is that we can still adjust those scenarios so that the curves go upwards rather than downwards. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches i am aware that we will neither make nor implement decisions today. yet, seeing such a professional, engaged and competent group of participants, i am confident that we can stimulate a positive turn. that is my hope for all of us here. i thank you for your time, and wish you fruitful discussions. 1 eurostat projections. 2 e. g. abeliansky a., prettner k. 2017 ; acemoglu d., restrepo p. 2018. 3 nedelkoska l., quintini g. 2018. 4 oecd 2017, education in lithuania, reviews of national policies for education, oecd publishing, paris. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches