By Eddie O'Gorman BBC NI business correspondent in Vilnius, Lithuania

In a few days' time, the European Union will have another 75 million citizens.

Along with that comes another nine languages, shared borders with Russia and the Ukraine and 10 new member states.

One of those is Lithuania, a flat, fertile country, heavily forested and with some 4,000 lakes.

The capital Vilnius is a city of 600,000 people

It is the southernmost and largest of the three Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, with a population of about 3.5 million.

Its capital, Vilnius, is a city of 600,000 people, with a baroque old town of cobbled streets and historic churches.

It is still expensive to fly to, although as a growing tourist attraction, it is likely to be an early addition to the destinations offered by the low-cost airlines.

Lithuania's main export business is in clothing and textiles, and it supplies a number of High Street stores, such as Marks and Spencer.

It also has a large number of companies in furniture manufacturing.

Exports went up by more than 80% between 1999 and 2003, and now account for more than 50% of gross domestic product (GDP).

'Poorest of new states'

Lithuania gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, and since then it has continued to seek closer ties to the west.

It became a member of NATO earlier this month, and this weekend will achieve its other main foreign policy objective when it becomes a full member of the EU.

Based on the annual increase in GDP - the accepted measure of wealth creation - Lithuania has the fastest-growing economy in Europe.

In 2003, it was close to 9%. But it is starting from a low base.

GDP per capita is less than 4,000 euro, making it one of the poorest of the new member states.

Average monthly income is less than 300 euro. The average hourly wage is about one-eighth of the EU average, and about half what it is in most of the other new member countries.

But these low wages have attracted large amounts of foreign investment. The biggest investors are from Scandinavia, Germany, and the United States.

Despite a sharp fall in the level of foreign investment last year - when it was just 25% of the level of the previous year - the director general of the Lithuanian Development Agency is confident that it will be an important factor in reducing the country's high level of unemployment, which stands at more than 10%.

NI companies

Remigius Kabecius says one of the biggest attractions for foreign investors is the standard of education among its young people.

"The proportion of graduates to the overall population is more than 40%," he says.

"That is double the EU average, and well ahead of Estonia and Latvia."

Powerscreen already does business with Lithuania

A number of Northern Ireland companies already do business with Lithuania.

Among them is the Dungannon-based company Powerscreen, which makes screening and recycling machinery for the quarrying and construction industries.

It can expect to increase its business as more EU money becomes available for major infrastructure projects such as road improvements.

However, the trade is not entirely one-way. The company has followed the lead of other firms in the area, and has recruited 14 Lithuanian workers over the last eight months because of the continuing shortage of skilled workers in the mid-Tyrone area.

But Remigius Kabecius believes that the growing availability of jobs at home will greatly reduce the incentive for skilled workers to seek work overseas.

"I believe that as full members of the EU, we will see a big influx of investment from foreign companies, not only from the other EU countries, but also from Russia and the Far East.

"We are determined that Lithuania will continue to show a rapid rate of growth, which will bring new prosperity to our people."