VILNIUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has signed an agreement with the Lithuanian government to establish a business incubation center in the country, authorities said Thursday.
The center, consisting of two business incubators in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania's two largest cities, would be the only business incubation center in Central and Eastern Europe, said Lithuania's Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
"A unique opportunity has opened up for us to make use of the latest CERN innovations, database and knowledge in developing products from technical concept to market," Lithuanian Economy Minister Virginijus Sinkevicius was quoted as saying in a statement from the ministry.
He added that he hoped the first start-ups at the incubators will start their activities in the year.
The center supports the development of technical innovations associated with CERN's activities, mainly research in particle physics.
Lithuania became the 10th country in the world to have CERN's business incubation center.
Lithuania, a Baltic State with a population of around 3 million, became an associate member state of CERN in 2018.
