On December 22, 1998 the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation co-sponsored a conference "The Business Environment, Deregulation and Human Welfare." The primary aims of the conference were to stimulate change in the attitudes to private sector development and regulatory functions of the state as well as to present LFMI's proposals for removing regulatory constraints to business growth and competition. The conference drew over 80 participants, including members of parliament, top government executives, representatives of political parties, entrepreneurs, lawyers, academia, and reporters.

"Our aim today is to show decision makers and people of Lithuania that it is necessary and feasible to deregulate the business environment and that we at LFMI can propose effective means to achieve this," LFMI's President Elena Leontjeva said at a press conference before the event.

The conference crowned an important stage in LFMI's work on business deregulation, which consisted in analysing the legal basis for business activity, exploring foreign experience, and formulating a package of proposals to remove regulatory barriers to business development and free competition.

Welcome addresses to the conference were delivered by President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, Economic Vice Minister Antanas Bartulis and UNDP Representative in Lithuania Cornelis Klein. The president of Lithuania greeted LFMI's efforts and outlined main impediments to private sector growth. Valdas Adamkus recognised the importance of business deregulation in freeing private initiative and furthering people's well-being. Creating a favourable business climate is crucial, he said, if we want people to take responsibility for their own lives instead of swelling the ranks of the unemployed. The president stressed that it is the responsibility of the state to take the initiative and limit government interventions in business affairs. "I understand that limiting one's own powers is not an easy job to do but it must be done for the sake of the people of Lithuania," Adamkus said.

Panel I of the conference was designed to reveal the forms of business regulation and to present LFMI's research results and policy proposals in the areas of licensing and employment regulations. Papers were delivered by LFMI's team members Guoda Steponavičienė, Ugnius Trumpa and Remigijus Šimašius. During panel II, representatives of the private sector proposed reform solutions in specific areas subject to excessive business regulation, including public utilities, railway, and health care. Mr. Alastair Sutton of White & Case spoke about the benefits and opportunities of privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation in the context of the European Union. In a closing presentation, LFMI's president Elena Leontjeva focused on the need to restrict the scope of market regulation on the part of the state.

The Free Market presents some of the conference papers and comments.