Assessment of Lithuania‘s Unique Regional Resources

In recent decades European regions have faced new social and economic development challenges. Not only globalization but also European integration processes make influence on regional development and lead to regional convergence. Then a region‘s competitive advantage is decreased or even lost. Seeking to help less advanced regions solve their problems, promote regional development and strengthen regional competitiveness uniqueness of regions should be identified, analysed and evaluated. Regional competitiveness can be strengthened by promoting regional specialization and investments and more effectively using local resources. Local cultural, historical and natural resources identified as unique and used in economic activity will contribute to the creation of value added and new jobs and give other positive results. Regional uniqueness plays an important role, it can be a success factor for regional development and create competitive advantage. In other words, it is important to identify, evaluate and develop the strengths and core skills of a region. The assessment of regional uniqueness will help use EU support more effectively and efficiently and create value added and new jobs. The paper deals with assessment of the regional uniqueness of Lithuania and opportunities for regions to develop and create value added and new jobs. The object of this research is assessment of regional uniqueness seeking to effectively and efficiently use it and facilitate social and economic development of Lithuania‘s regions. Regional development is important at state, regional and EU levels. More effective use of regional strengths, core skills and unique local resources will help create competitive advantage. The aim of the research is to propose methods for the evaluation of regional uniqueness (unique cultural, historical and natural resources) and regions‘ opportunities to create value added and new jobs. That could be used for regional policy formation. The research draws on the theory of economic assessment of regional uniqueness. Research methods: the multi-criteria evaluation technique, the SAW method, econometric analysis of panel data, regression analysis, systematic and comparative analysis of statistical data, synthesis, analogy, contextual analysis, logical comparison. Indicators that can be used as a regional uniqueness assessment and regions‘ classification instrument were identified. The findings can be used for regional policy formation, effective and efficient use of unique resources, value added and new jobs creation. Regional uniqueness assessment is important at several levels: as a new supplementary methodological instrument for regional policy prioritisation (at EU level), as additional criteria attracting EU support for value added and new jobs creation (at national level), as an instrument for setting regions‘ strategic development directions (at regional level). While developing Lithuania‘s regional policy and seeking to create added value and new jobs it is recommended to evaluate regional resources (cultural, historical, natural) and classify regions. Research into the issue should be continued, the concept of regional uniqueness developed, regional economic development analysed, local resources evaluated, regional specialization strengthened, investment in regions promoted, regional competitiveness enhanced