Good morning, honourable Minister for the Environment, dear colleagues, members of the academia, representatives from business and public sectors.
Good morning dear guests, distinguished speakers. A sincere thank you for joining us at the annual – already the fifth – Lithuanian economics conference, organised by the Bank of Lithuania.
I am very pleased to welcome you all. I am especially glad to finally see you in person after such a long time. Let me also express a heartfelt virtual welcome to those who could not join us live today but are taking advantage of the hybrid conference format.
If it weren't for the pandemic, a hybrid conference format probably wouldn't exist. As Nobel laureate Milton Friedman once said, "Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change".