. 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

pandemic levels. increased investment and recovering consumption ensured that the baltic economies recovered swiftly from the pandemic shock, with gdp growth in 2021 outperforming most of the previous forecasts. despite the pandemics, before the russian invasion into ukraine, lithuania was on the path of growth and the long - term economic transformation of digitisation and sustainability. in these unprecedented times we must stay on this path. no matter the current uncertainty, we need to ensure that investment directed towards our long - term goals continues. a consistent and speedy implementation of the rrf plans geared towards climate and digital transitions remains crucial. the war in ukraine highlighted the importance of energy independence. investing into developing renewable energy sources not only reduces geopolitical energy vulnerability ; large - scale and ambitious green investment programmes also help offset the negative effects of automation – the loss of jobs and growing regional inequalities. cheaper and more available green energy also contributes towards meeting our co2 emission targets. despite this opportunity appearing in such a tragic circumstance of war, policymakers cannot afford to miss the move - away from fossil fuels by directing public funds that are available towards expanding the renewables sector. public investment will provide a spark, but we need a financial system that is financing climate - friendly investment to keep the engine running. fostering such a sustainability - minded financial system is an increasingly important topic for central banks. one of the strategic goals of the bank of lithuania is management of climate related risks. we monitor our own institutional carbon footprint and manage our own investment portfolio according to sustainable investment principles. we also established a new centre for financial market development just before the outbreak of the war and were preparing to open a centre for green finance in hopes of increasing opportunities to attract resources for lithuanian firms considering green investments. dear colleagues, to conclude, as the well - known saying goes, “ good times don't last, and bad times don't stay forever ”. planning and investing today in preparation for those good times to come is more important than ever. it is therefore a great honour to open this investments in the baltics conference in webinar format. i look forward to the upcoming discussions and presentations. thank you.