by InTrieste
The Republic of Lithuania inaugurated its Honorary Consulate in Trieste on Monday, marking a new step in the growing diplomatic and commercial relationship between the Baltic nation and the northeastern Italian port city.
The ceremony was attended by Lithuania’s ambassador to Italy, Dalia Kreivienė, alongside Italian regional and municipal officials, military representatives, and a Lithuanian delegation of business and institutional leaders. Lilli Samer, chief executive of the Trieste-based shipping company Samer & Co. Shipping, was formally appointed honorary consul.
The new consulate is housed at the World Trade Center in Via San Nicolò, in the heart of Trieste’s commercial district.
A maritime partnership
The opening reflects increasingly close ties between two cities shaped by their strategic ports: Trieste, a gateway to Central and Eastern Europe on the Adriatic Sea, and Klaipėda, Lithuania’s only seaport on the Baltic.
Officials described the consulate as both a diplomatic office serving Lithuanian citizens in the region and a platform for expanding economic cooperation, particularly in logistics, shipping and international trade.
Speaking during the ceremony, Ambassador Kreivienė thanked Ms. Samer for making her experience and knowledge of the local business community available to Lithuania. Regional and city representatives said the new consular presence would strengthen international connections while providing greater representation and services for Lithuanian residents in the area.
A prominent figure in Trieste shipping
Ms. Samer has worked at Samer & Co. Shipping since 1981 and oversees the company’s administrative and insurance operations. Founded in 1919, the company employs more than 600 people and operates across 11 countries in southeastern Europe and Turkey, making it one of Italy’s established shipping and freight forwarding groups.
She also serves as president of Edgar H. Greenham & Co., a historic Trieste insurance agency founded in 1826, and sits on the national board of AIDDA, the Italian association of women entrepreneurs and executives.
Her appointment continues a longstanding diplomatic tradition within the Samer family. Her brother, Enrico Samer, serves as honorary consul general of Turkey for northeastern Italy, a position previously held by their father.
Business cooperation expands
The inauguration concluded a day of institutional meetings across Trieste. The Lithuanian delegation met representatives of the Italian government in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Mayor Roberto Dipiazza, and officials from the Port Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea.
Later, the Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia hosted a presentation of the Port of Klaipėda and meetings between Lithuanian entrepreneurs and local businesses. Chamber President Antonio Paoletti said discussions are underway to organize a business mission to Lithuania in 2027, with logistics companies expected to meet during the Transport Logistic trade fair in Munich before a potential visit.
According to regional trade data presented during the event, commercial exchange between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Lithuania increased in 2025 compared with the previous year. Imports rose by about 42 percent, exports by roughly 17 percent, and the region recorded a trade surplus of €27.75 million. The provinces of Udine and Pordenone accounted for the majority of the region’s exports to Lithuania.
