Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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Copenhagen Area funded partly by the region and partly by EU structural
funds. The Capital Region does not exclusively fund projects proposed by
the Business Link Greater Copenhagen Area, since it considers that general
entrepreneurship projects should be carried out by the centre but that
projects that are more sector-specific should be generally carried out by
other actors. Projects funded by the Capital Region without the involvement
of the Business Link Greater Copenhagen Area are science parks such as
Symbion for ICT and the Copenhagen Biotech Science Park, which both
supply specialist knowledge on domains such as patents.
In 2008, the City of Copenhagen established a business centre to replace
one co-founded with the municipality of Frederiksberg, offering free advice
to entrepreneurs on setting up businesses, taxes, planning and finance. The
amount of advice is determined in the individual case. A hotline and
website have been in place since 2007; business services include network
arrangements and courses. The Copenhagen business centre currently has
seven advisers who have assisted 1 200 entrepreneurs in the first six months,
and from 2009, will operate on an annual budget of DKK 9 million. Special
priorities for the business centre are creative and ethnic entrepreneurs. In
2009, the centre will open a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs and SMEs, and
there are plans to have tax and police officers seconded to the centre.
Offering local business services is not mandatory, but of the 29
municipalities in the Capital Region, 25 offered such services in 2008, up
from 18 in 2007, (Vaeksthus Hovedstadsregionen, 2008). Those that do not
offer services are mostly residential areas from which residents commute to
Copenhagen and other economic centres within the Capital Region. These
municipalities are to some extent free-riding on services provided in the
other municipalities, as local business services have indicated that they will
not refuse to service entrepreneurs from the other municipalities.
Visions and policies of main multi-level governance actors
In 2006, the central government formulated its strategy for Denmark in
the global economy, with. key goals of strong competitiveness and strong
cohesion, to be achieved by world-class education, research,
entrepreneurship and innovation. Among the quantifiable targets were 50%
higher education attainment, devoting 3% of GDP to R&D expenditure and
the largest number of business start-ups and high-growth start-ups in
Europe. An action plan was drawn up outlining the initiatives in more detail
and funding them. The national government and the regional Growth Forum
of the Capital Region made an agreement on partnership for growth for
2007-09, to synchronise the national Globalisation Strategy and regional
growth initiatives.