The UNDP official met with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius in Vilnius on Monday. She told BNS following the meeting that it focused on the perspective of further cooperation.
"We have been working with Lithuania since the 1992 transition process and through the EU accession-integration process. Since 2006, we have had our project office. Now we are going to be ending our physical presence, taking a stock of lessons learned and discussing a new era of partnership with Lithuania as a middle-income country and an EU member state. We were exchanging views on how we could cooperate in the future – new perspectives and expanding our cooperation," she told BNS.
Talking about future cooperation, Sultanoglu underlined Lithuania's experience in carrying out social reforms and the EU accession experience the Baltic state could share with other countries.
"Lithuania has had tremendous, first of all, transition experience and also the experience of EU accession. This is extremely valuable for the countries that are interested in or undergoing the same process. At the same time, it is valuable also in the context of a broader EU integration process of other countries. But maybe more broadly, Lithuania has a huge experience in different social reforms and innovations, the human development achievements of Lithuania are remarkable," she said.
Among the Lithuanian EU presidency's priorities, the UN stresses the importance of regional cooperation, Sultanoglu said.
"Lithuania’s stated priorities are certainly very much in line. But the kind of priorities that we see in the region, of course, the focus on jobs is very important. But if I look at the countries where we have pragmatic interest, certainly the emphasis on regional cooperation, emphasis on neighborhood countries that Lithuania has is very important for us," the UNDP assistant administrator said.
On Tuesday, Sultanoglu is scheduled to attend regional conference Social Innovations Through New Partnerships, organized by the UNDP in Lithuania and the Ministry of Social Security and Labor. The conference is the final UNDP event in Lithuania.
