Lithuania Launches “Investment Highway”: What It Means for Investors, Platforms, and Businesses

In late June 2025, Lithuania’s Seimas (Parliament) adopted a set of legislative amendments, introducing the Investment Highway. This initiative is aimed at making the country the most investor-friendly destination in Central and Eastern Europe by 2030. 

By simplifying planning procedures, expediting permitting processes, and offering greater transparency through a national investment tracker, Lithuania expects to attract billions, particularly in high-value sectors such as defense, technology, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.

What is the Investment Highway?

The Investment Highway is a streamlined, accelerated approval process for major investment projects. It is designed to cut through bureaucratic delays and reduce permit timelines from years to mere months. Powered by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, it offers transparency by registering all incoming investments and tracking progress on the public investment calculator that will be available on the Ministry website.  

Here are the main highlights of the Investment Highway:

• Fast-tracked planning and permitting: The process of obtaining building permits was lengthy, so it could take 3 years or even more from when the site is selected to when the actual construction starts. The Investment Highway will allow for a reduction in that time to approximately 3 months.
  
• Expanded scope: Originally piloted for defense projects, the fast-track process now applies to all major investments, including those in Free Economic Zones.
  
• Tax incentives: Corporate income tax reductions now apply when project goals are achieved, rather than from day one, offering long-term financial clarity.

These changes come into effect on November 1, 2025, marking Lithuania’s official shift toward an ultra-efficient investment model.

Benefits for investors

The Investment Highway offers significant benefits to investors.

Speed & certainty

For investors, time is money. Lithuania’s Investment Highway promises to cut approval timelines by up to 10x, accelerating capital deployment and reducing project risk.

Transparent oversight

The public investment dashboard provides real-time visibility into projects across the country. This transparency reassures investors, strengthens accountability, and improves public trust.

Dedicated support

Instead of navigating complex regulatory webs, investors can rely on a single agency, Invest Lithuania, for guidance, problem-solving, and institutional hand-holding, making the country more accessible.

What it means for crowdfunding and investment platforms

The Investment Highway accelerates major infrastructural, tech, and industrial projects that can become prime targets for investment platforms, including equity crowdfunding (ECF), real estate crowdfunding, and private placement platforms. Faster project launches mean quicker returns.

Platforms can expect lower hurdles when listing and scaling projects. With regulatory bottlenecks disarmed, due diligence becomes more straightforward, and investment timetables become more dependable.

As larger projects materialize, especially in sectors like data centers, biotech, e-mobility, and defense, platforms gain access to higher-ticket opportunities, which helps to diversify offerings and attract institutional-grade investors.

Implications for businesses & projects

For businesses and projects, the Investment Highway means the following.

Faster market entry

Businesses no longer face multi-year waits for permits; instead, they can begin construction within 3-12 months, gaining a significant edge in time-to-market.

Scale potential

With tax incentives and streamlined land formation, firms can scale within Lithuania as reliably as in more developed economies, but often at lower costs.

Access to public infrastructure

Clearer rules for public land allocation and coordinated planning mean businesses can more easily set up industrial parks, research centers, or high-tech facilities, with government support .

Rising FDI Potential

As Lithuania becomes an attractive FDI destination, businesses are expected to gain from greater foreign capital, talent inflows, and eventual ecosystem expansion.

What about other countries?

Lithuania isn’t alone in its push for investor-friendliness: many countries have launched similar initiatives.

Latvia’s Green Corridor

Latvia launched its “Green Corridor” initiative in 2021 through the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) to attract high-value foreign direct investment and improve economic competitiveness by simplifying bureaucratic procedures. 

The program focuses on information and communication technology, biotechnology, smart energy, and advanced manufacturing. Projects typically need to invest at least €10 million to qualify or create 50 high-skilled jobs, although smaller projects that support innovation may also be eligible. 

The initiative offers investors faster business registration, simplified permits, easier immigration processes, and priority access to support programs, all managed through dedicated contacts. This approach reduces setup times by about half, cutting registration and permit approvals from months to weeks, with case managers assisting investors throughout.

Polish Investment Zone 

Poland’s Polish Investment Zone (PIZ), launched in 2018, replaced the country’s former Special Economic Zones. It offers nationwide tax reliefs that are not tied to specific locations, making it accessible to a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, and R&D. 

The program is sector-agnostic and provides income tax exemptions based on the level of capital investment and the number of jobs created. While local authorities aim to process permits within two to three months, actual timelines often vary depending on the region. 

Compared to Lithuania’s Investment Highway, Poland’s system offers generous incentives but lacks the same level of centralization and legal enforceability.

Ireland – IDA fast-track support

Ireland does not operate a formal “corridor” initiative, but through IDA Ireland, it offers fast-track support tailored to large strategic investments. The support is customised based on each company’s profile, with priority given to firms in pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, and cloud infrastructure. 

IDA Ireland acts as a one-stop shop, assisting with permits, tax planning, property acquisition, and local recruitment. While timelines vary depending on the project, tech-related investments often move quickly. Ireland’s main strengths are its predictable regulatory environment, competitive 12.5% corporate tax rate, and strong institutional backing for foreign investors.

Final verdict: Is Lithuania setting a new standard?

The Investment Highway is more than just a government PR campaign; it’s a strategic response to a highly competitive investment environment where speed, clarity, and certainty matter more than ever. 

With other nations offering tax incentives and special economic zones to lure investors, Lithuania is taking a different approach: cutting bureaucratic delays by up to tenfold and establishing a centralized, accountable body to guide every step of the investor journey. This initiative raises the bar for investor-friendliness in the modern economy. It offers significant opportunities for crowdfunding platforms, business developers, and institutional players seeking a reliable, fast-moving jurisdiction in the EU.

How to launch an investment platform in Lithuania with LenderKit

With Lithuania’s Investment Highway cutting permit times and boosting transparency, the country offers a fast-moving environment for launching various fintech businesses including investment platforms. 

Using LenderKit’s white-label infrastructure, you can quickly build a compliant platform for crowdfunding, investing or private placements. LenderKit supports ECSP licensing requirements, streamlines investor onboarding and integrates KYC/AML tools, letting you focus on market fit and growth.

LenderKit’s customizable features allow you to target high-growth sectors like renewables or advanced manufacturing while aligning with Lithuania’s regulatory standards. Combined with local legal support and financial integrations, you get a launch-ready, scalable platform in one of the EU’s most investor-friendly markets.

To discuss details, please get in touch with us.