Benchmark Study 1

IPP 

BENCHMARK REPORT 

1 ST BENCHMARK REPORT 

V. 1.0 – Final document 

Date: 30.06.2011 

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IPP BENCHMARK REPORT 

V. 1.0 

Table of contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................... 6 

CHAPTER 1............................................................................................................................ 9 

CURRENT SITUATION OF IPP REGIONS........................................................................... 9 

CHAPTER 1.1....................................................................................................................... 10 

SAXONY-ANHALT CURRENT SITUATION........................................................................ 10 

1. Key Regional Data ......................................................................................................... 11 

2. Location and Geography ................................................................................................ 11 

3. Education and Health System ........................................................................................ 12 

Education system .............................................................................................................. 12 

Population and health care ................................................................................................ 12 

Health Care ....................................................................................................................... 14 

Human capital, labour market and employment ................................................................. 14 

4. Accessibility and Transport Infrastructure....................................................................... 16 

5. Key features of Economy and Industry........................................................................... 17 

Tourism ............................................................................................................................. 18 

Automotive industry ........................................................................................................... 18 

Bio and gene technology ................................................................................................... 19 

Chemical industry .............................................................................................................. 19 

Service economy ............................................................................................................... 19 

Food industry..................................................................................................................... 20 

Wood, Paper and Packaging ............................................................................................. 20 

Mechanical engineering..................................................................................................... 20 

Medical technology............................................................................................................ 21 

Logistics ............................................................................................................................ 21 

Mining................................................................................................................................ 21 

Energy............................................................................................................................... 22 

Renewable energy............................................................................................................. 22 

Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 22 

Research and Development .............................................................................................. 23 

6. Government and territory ............................................................................................... 27 

The federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.................................................................................... 27 

Territory ............................................................................................................................. 27 

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7. Key development challenges for Saxony – Anhalt.......................................................... 28 

CHAPTER 1.2....................................................................................................................... 31 

ESZAK-ALFÖLD CURRENT SITUATION ............................................................................ 31 

1. Key Regional Data (2010): ............................................................................................. 32 

2. Location & Geography.................................................................................................... 32 

3. Education & Health System (*) ....................................................................................... 32 

4. Key features of the Economy Industry (*) ....................................................................... 34 

Energy............................................................................................................................... 34 

Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 34 

Industry.............................................................................................................................. 35 

Services/Tourism & Sport .................................................................................................. 35 

R & D and Innovation System............................................................................................ 37 

5. Accessibility & Transport Infrastructure (*)...................................................................... 37 

6. Level of Territory Governance (*) ................................................................................... 38 

7. Territory & Environment (*)............................................................................................. 39 

8. Key development challenges for Eszak-Alföld................................................................ 40 

CHAPTER 1.3....................................................................................................................... 41 

COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA CURRENT SITUATION......................................................... 41 

1.-Key Regional Data: ........................................................................................................... 42 

2.-Location & Geography....................................................................................................... 42 

3.-Education & Health System............................................................................................... 43 

Education System.............................................................................................................. 43 

Health system.................................................................................................................... 46 

4.-Key features of the Economy & Industry ........................................................................... 47 

Industry ............................................................................................................................. 48 

Energy .............................................................................................................................. 49 

Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 50 

Services............................................................................................................................. 50 

Construction ...................................................................................................................... 51 

Tourism & Sports............................................................................................................... 52 

R & D and Innovation System............................................................................................ 53 

5.-Accessibility & transport Infrastructure .............................................................................. 53 

6.-Level of Territory Governance........................................................................................... 54 

7.-Territory & Environment .................................................................................................... 54 

8.- Key development challenges for Comunidad Valenciana ................................................. 56 

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CHAPTER 1.4....................................................................................................................... 58 

LATVIA CURRENT SITUATION.......................................................................................... 58 

1. Key Regional Data: ........................................................................................................ 59 

2. Location & Geography.................................................................................................... 59 

3. Education and Health System ........................................................................................ 59 

Education .......................................................................................................................... 59 

Health care ........................................................................................................................ 60 

4. Key features of the Economy Industry............................................................................ 61 

Wood................................................................................................................................. 61 

Textile................................................................................................................................ 62 

Energy............................................................................................................................... 63 

Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 65 

Tourism ............................................................................................................................. 65 

R&D and Innovation System.............................................................................................. 67 

Innovation governance and policy trends........................................................................... 68 

5. Accessibility & transport Infrastructure ........................................................................... 71 

6. Level of Territory Governance ........................................................................................ 72 

7. Territory & Environment ................................................................................................. 72 

Water................................................................................................................................. 73 

Land .................................................................................................................................. 73 

Waste ................................................................................................................................ 73 

8. Key development challenges for Latvia .......................................................................... 74 

CHAPTER 2.......................................................................................................................... 80 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR INTERNALIZATION......................................................... 80 

CHAPTER 2.1....................................................................................................................... 81 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION SAXONY ANHALT................ 81 

Main tools of support for regional & local organizations......................................................... 82 

Enterprise Europe Network office Sachsen-Anhalt (EEN) .................................................. 82 

EU Service-Agentur ........................................................................................................... 85 

EU-Funding experts of universities .................................................................................... 87 

GOEUROPE...................................................................................................................... 88 

CHAPTER 2.2....................................................................................................................... 93 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION .............................................. 93 

ESZAK-ANFÖLD................................................................................................................... 93 

Main tools of support for regional & local organizations......................................................... 94 

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INNOVA............................................................................................................................. 94 

CHAPTER 2.3....................................................................................................................... 97 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA 97 

Support structure for regional & local organizations............................................................... 98 

Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea ( FCVRE) ......................................... 98 

SEIMED (Servicio Empresa e Innovación en el Mediterráneo Español Enterprise).......... 100 

REDIT (Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Region) ............................. 103 

RUVID (Network of Universities of the Valencian Region for researching and innovation)105 

Chamber Of Commerce, Industry And Navigation ........................................................... 107 

Chamber Council............................................................................................................. 109 

Local Development Agencies........................................................................................... 110 

OPIDI (Companies Projects Office R+D+i)....................................................................... 111 

CHAPTER 2.4..................................................................................................................... 113 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION LATVIA.............................. 113 

Main tools of support for regional & local organizations - Latvia .......................................... 114 

State Regional Development Agency (SRDA) ................................................................. 114 

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (IDAL) .................................................... 116 

State Education Development Agency (SEDA)................................................................ 120 

Foundation “Ventspils High Technology Park” (VATP)..................................................... 122 

Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LARG).................................... 127 

Vidzeme Planning Region (one of the 5 planning regions in Latvia)................................. 130 

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences .......................................................................... 135 

CHAPTER 3........................................................................................................................ 138 

MAIN OBSTACLES FOR COOPERATION ....................................................................... 138 

Main barriers and obstacles to co-operation........................................................................ 139 

CHAPTER 4........................................................................................................................ 145 

BENCHMARKS FOR THE IPP REGIONS ON INTERNATIONALIZATION ..................... 145 

Benchmark for the IPP regions............................................................................................ 146 

CHAPTER 5........................................................................................................................ 162 

AREAS FOR COOPERATION .......................................................................................... 162 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 


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Public innovation intermediaries (such as business parks, innovation centers and innovation policy 

units) play a crucial role in providing innovation support measures, creating partnerships, finding 

innovative solutions, and raising the rate of innovation. The lack of external links and the limited cooperation 

of innovation intermediaries are important drawback factors to the accomplishement of a 

higher rate of innovation and, therefore, to generating growth and employment at regional level. Those 

factors are often accompanied by low performance targets set by the funding authorities. The 

Interregional Partnership Platform (IPP) is an INTERREG IV C project aiming to improve the capacity of 

regions for innovation by increasing the performance of innovation intermediaries at local and regional 

levels in the partner regions in European co-operation and EU innovation programmes. During the 

project the participating regions will identify and exchange successful access models both to increase 

the outward orientation of innovation intermediaries and to develop a long-term framework of 

interregional know-how transfer among the local and regional actors. The partners will jointly implement 

successful practices in two pilot actions, and will develop a joint benchmark and a monitoring and IT 

tool in order to regularly assess the participation rate of organizations. Finally, the results of the cooperation 

would be used to give policy recommendations to improve innovation policies and in 

particular the structural funds mainstream programmes of the regions. 

One of the key elements of the project is the development of an interregional benchmark for 

internationalisation. This first Benchmark Report for the INTERREG IV C Project “Interregional 

Partnership Platform” is meant to: 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Provide an overview of the current situation of the IPP regions, based on information on the IPP 

regions and on some of the findings of the 5th Cohesion Report concerning the overall situation and 

main challenges (i.e. with regard to the Europe 2020 targets, etc.) – Chapter 1 

Identifiy the support structures for internationalizations of the IPP regions, and the key policies and 

instruments useful to support institutions in the IPP regions - Chapter 2 

Present the main obstacles to co-operation, based on the information about the questionnaires and 

other information about the IPP regions –Chapter 3 

Develop a set of indicators and benchmarks to give indications to the IPP regions on how to assess 

their current position and their current internationalisation policies taking into account the rate of 

participation in EU programmes and the co-operation capacity – Chapter 4 

Identify future scope for co-operation and make recommendations for best practices which can 

serve as the basis for the selection of pilot projects - Chapter 5 

First of all, the first Benchmark Report records many important features related to the IPP Regions 

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general conditions. 

With regard to internationalization and innovation, the first Benchmark Report has identified a certain 

number of challenges that all IPP regions must face. They are: 

Similarities: 

• A low R&D intensity of local businesses due to their small size whereby it has to be further 

investigated whether the generally low level of R&D expenditure in small and medium sized 

companies is due to a general lack of innovation activity, or whether this is a consequence of a 

small workforce in which there is no clear division of functions between innovation, product 

development and production. 

• A dominance of public expenditure on innovation and internationalization policy by the IPP regions, 

that particularly focuses on the increase of the innovation rate of the business sector of the IPP 

regions 

• The lack of involvement of the local level in international and European co-operation despite 

widespread interest of local and regional actors to change the situation 

• The large degree of publicly funded support infrastructures and networks for internationalization in 

the IPP regions focusing on specific programmes and target groups 

• The absence of high tech products and the relatively short value chains in the regions making them 

particularly vulnerable to international competition 

Differences: 

• The impact of global financial and economic crisis has affected the IPP regions in different ways; 

while Latvia and Valencia were particularly hit by the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis, 

the impact in Eszak-Alföld, and particularly in Saxony-Anhalt, were much less serious 

• The impact of demographic change is also significantly different among some of the IPP regions. 

While Ezsak Alföld and Saxony-Anhalt suffer a high degree of outmigration and ageing society, 

Valencia, in particular way, is facing a growing population. 

Opportunities: 

Due to their specific development challenges, there is plenty of scope for extending co-operation, 

particularly in the following areas: 

• in the field of business to business co-operation, i.e. European Enterprise Network Partners of the 

IPP regions including the Chambers of Commerce 

• in the field of business and research co-operation, i.e. REDIT – Research Organisation in Valencia - 

– INNOVA Agency and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Technological Centre of 

Latvia 

• in the field of regional/local development, i.e. EU-Service Agency – FCVRE – RDA Eszak Alföld – 

SRDA Latvia, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments 

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Benchmarking: 

In order to measure the impact and effectiveness of support policies, it might be useful to arrange a 

regular update of the initial data in order to single out a number of key benchmarks of comparison 

among IPP regions. These key data should include the following aspects: 

• the rate of participation in a selected number of primary EU co-operation programmes 

• distance of the IPP regions in meeting the Europe 2020 targets 

• key data reflecting on the economic, social and environmental development of the IPP regions. 

Outlook for the Future: 

Over the life cycle of the IPP project, two addictional benchmark reports are foreseen which allow a 

more indepth analysis of key aspects of internationalization. The latter are: 

• the input/output ratio in supporting businesses and local authorities on their participation in selected 

European co-operation programmes 

• the identification of successful strategies aimed to motivate and involve local actors in European cooperation 

actions, 

• the anaylsis of the overall impact of successful internationalization strategies for regional 

development in the IPP regions, and particularly 

• the further impact of the exchange of best practices in increasing the rate of internationalization and 

participation in EU programmes through the implementation of a number of pilot projects during the 

next stages of the IPP project. 

The first Benchmark Report, therefore, only represents a starting point for further discussion and joint 

strategy building. 

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CHAPTER 1 

CURRENT SITUATION 

OF IPP REGIONS 

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CHAPTER 1.1 

SAXONY-ANHALT 


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1. Key Regional Data 

o Area: 2 044 770 ha = 20.447,7 km² 

o Population: 2.356219,00 1 

o Population Density: 115 /km² 

o GDP : 49.976,00 million € 

o GDP / Capita: (21.300,00) € / capita 

o Employment Rate: 69,5 % 

o Activity Rate: 80,1 % 

o Unemployment Rate: 13,7 % 

2. Location and Geography 

Saxony-Anhalt is one of 16 federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was first established 

as one of the new East German federal states in October 1990. In respect of its surface and population, 

it is the eighth largest state in Germany, and has the tenth largest population in Germany. 

The area of Saxony-Anhalt has a total of 20 445 square kilometres (5.7 percent of the German 

territory), where live about 2.52 million inhabitants (3.5 percent of the total German population). While 

the northern parts of the state are sparsely populated, the population density in different parts of the 

central and southern part of the state is over 150 inhabitants per square kilometre. The national average 

is about 123.5 inhabitants per square kilometres. The state capital and seat of government is 

Magdeburg. 

Magdeburg is the second largest city in the state with a population of 229.725, after Halle/Saale with 

about 234.802 inhabitants (as at 30 June 2007).2 

1 STALA http://www.stala.sachsen- 

anhalt.de/Internet/Home/Daten_und_Fakten/1/12/124/12411/Bevoelkerungsentwicklung_Sachsen- 

Anhalts_seit_1966.html 

2 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=6909, downloaded on 10 November 

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3. Education and Health System 

Education system 

There are two universities (the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg and the Martin Luther 

University in Halle-Wittenberg), one college of art (Burg Giebichenstein Hochschule für Kunst und 

Design) and four universities of applied sciences ("Fachhochschule”) (Anhalt University of Applied 

Sciences, Harz University of Applied Sciences, Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, 

Merseburg University of Applied Sciences) in the region of Saxony-Anhalt. This is a separated, well 

developed, efficient system of the state-run higher education. In the future further developments are 

planed to be realized in this field. The colleges are the major objects of these developments. 3 

The Federal Government, the German states and German science and commerce are keen for their 

country to be seen as an excellent choice for those who wish to use education and research to further 

their careers. German colleges and universities are enhancing their international credentials with a view 

to making the country’s educational institutions more attractive to foreign students and scientists. 

Successful attempts have also been made in Saxony-Anhalt to increase the international profile of its 

colleges and universities. 4 

The number of foreign students was fluctuating between 480 and 570 in the period of 1980-1991, and it 

has been increasing constantly since the year of 1991. In 2009 were 4.604 foreign students in the 

higher education of Saxony-Anhalt. The number of the German students was fluctuating between 

46.800 and 48.300 in the period of 2004-2009. In 2005, 4.483 foreign students were studying in 

Saxony-Anhalt, of whom 2,835 attended the two universities, 1.488 the universities of applied 

sciences and 150 the colleges of art and theology. Nearly half of them come from China. 

Population and health care 

In the past 20 years the number of population of Saxony-Anhalt has been declining rapidly. Comparing 

the number of the population in 2008 with the data of 1990, it was an 18 % decrease from 1990 to 

2008. 

At the end of 2008 Saxony-Anhalt had 2.381.872 inhabitants, but in the next year it declined by 30.600. 

The reasons of this are migration, which contributes to the total decrease by 40 %, and the decline in 

the number of births, which contributes to the total decrease by 60%. However, in 2007 and 2008 the 

number of marriages and births increased. The northern part of the region must face a higher loss of 

population than the southern part, because of ageing and migration. 5 

3 http://www.studienkreis.de/service/schulsysteme/in/sachsen-anhalt.html downloaded on 10 November 

4 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=21809 downloaded on 10 November 

5 http://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de/Internet/Home/Veroeffentlichungen/Pressemitteilungen/2009/12/155.html 

downloaded on 11 November 

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The number of population in Saxony-Anhalt from 1995 to 2008 

Based on the data of: www.citypopulation.de 6 

On the next chart can be seen, that the older age-group make the most of the population, firstly the 

persons, who are between 45-65 years old. 

Persons 

The distribution of the population according to age 

in 2008 

800000 

700000 

600000 

500000 

400000 

300000 

200000 

100000 

0 

under 6 

years 

6-15 15-25 25-45 45-65 65-75 above 

75 

years 

Age from... to... 

Persons 

Based on the data of: http://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de 7 

According to the data of 2008, 51% of the population were women. More than two thirds of the 

population lives in urban districts (Kreisfreie Städte), as Halle or Magdeburg. The number of births was 

6 http://www.citypopulation.de/php/diagram.php?pageid=germany-sachsenanhalt&type=ADM1&id=15 downloaded 

on 11 November 

7 http://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de/bevoelkerung/bewegungen/index.html, downloaded on 10 November 

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under the national average in 2008, 1000 mothers gave births to 1275 children, while the national 

average was 1400 children pro 1000 mothers. The ageing of population is a specific problem in the 

state, because of the declining number of births and migration. 8 

Health Care 

The distribution of doctors in different parts of the state and according to different specialities is very 

unequal. In every district is at least one speciality that suffers from shortage of doctors; however other 

specialities have surpluses in doctors. Aging of doctors is a specific problem in the state which 

responsible for the growing costs of medical care. 

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in cooperation with AOK and Kassenärztlichen Vereinigung 

Sachsen-Anhalt” are giving scholarship for medical students, requiring them to settle down in this state. 

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and Ärztekammer Sachsen-Anhalt made an agreement with 

Österreichischen Ärztekammer in the autumn of 2008, according to this agreement recruiting of 

Austrian doctors is inspired in the state. Between 1991 and 2010 more than 800 Million Euro has been 

spent on the development and construction of hospitals. 9 

Human capital, labour market and employment 

Companies are particularly appreciative of the high levels of qualification and motivation, thoroughness 

and punctuality of the workforce in Saxony-Anhalt, and their moderate wage expectations. More than 80 

percent of all employees have a vocational educational qualification – one of the highest percentages in 

Germany. The close collaboration between business and science ensures that skilled workers gain 

qualifications in a practical environment. 

Investors also value the region’s flexible working practices: 

o 75 % of companies conduct wage negotiations at company level (in-house agreements) 

o machine operation times of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, are the norm under licensing rules 

o labour costs are consequently 15 to 40 % below those of western Germany. 10 

The difficulties in the labour market’s situation, which was caused by the change of the regime, meant 

the biggest problem for Saxony-Anhalt among the federal states. 

The Labour Market had gone through a radical alteration. In 1987 the number of the population in the 

8 Aktualisierung der sozio-ökonomischen Situation Sachsen-Anhalts, Begleitung und Bewertung der EU- 

Strukturfonds des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt 2007-2013 

9 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/fileadmin/Elementbibliothek/Master- 

Bibliothek/Soziales/Sozialbericht_2010/Sozialbericht_lese.pdf downloaded on 14 November 


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employable age (between the age of 15 and 65) was 2 Million, but this number had sunk to 1.87 Million 

by the year of 2000. It was 67.7% of the population in 1987, and 69.6% in 2000. The reason of this 

increase is the sinking number of the population under 15 years. 

The number of employees was 1.577.400 in 1987, which was 18.4% of the employees of the German 

Democratic Republic (DDR). Comparing these figures to the population it turns out, that the 

employment rate was 52.1 % in 1987. 

The unemployment is a central problem in Sachsen-Anhalt. There are differences between the northern 

and southern part of the state and between the eastern and western part of the state, and there is also 

a central-peripheral development line. The unemployment rate was the highest in Aschersleben (25,3%) 

and in Hettstedt (26,5%) in 2000. In the areas, which are densely populated, the unemployment rate is 

lower. The economically active population is migrating to the densely populated areas, so the number of 

the employees is increasing there. 11 

Number of unemployed between 1991- 

2009 

25 

Number of 

unemployed in % 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Reihe1 

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 

Years 

12 

In the last years the unemployment rate has fallen sharply in Saxony-Anhalt. The good cyclical situation 

of the economy contributed to this between 2005 and 2008. 

In November 2010 the unemployment rate was 10,8 %. 13 

11 

http://www.leader-saale-unstrut.de/admingate/site/pdf/Progammplan%20Leader+.pdf 

12 http://www.statistik.sachsenanhalt.de/Internet/Home/Daten_und_Fakten/1/13/132/13211/Arbeitslosenquoten_nach_Kreisen.html. 

http://www.g-i-s-a.de/res.php?id=199, http://www.bpb.de/wissen/MCBEV2 

and http://www.arbeitsagentur.de/nn_29210/nn_29402/Dienststellen/RD-SAT/RD-SAT/A01-Allgemein- 

Info/Presse/2009/03-amb-08-sa.html 

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The most part of the success was made possible by the structural improvement. This was based on the 

reform of the labour market at the beginning of the decade, and the wage policy. In the future it is an 

important factor in the state’s economy to improve further the unemployment rate. It is necessary to 

evolve an adequate wage policy and to create work possibilities, which could be reconciled with the 

family. 

The problem of unemployment affects Germany as a whole, but has hit the East German states 

particularly hard. In Saxony-Anhalt too, the employment situation is fraught; nonetheless, in contrast to 

many of the other federal states, it has always been possible in recent years to offer a traineeship to 

every young person in the state. 14 

4. Accessibility and Transport Infrastructure 

In recent years, the infrastructure of Saxony-Anhalt has been considerably strengthened and 

improved. Nowadays, Saxony-Anhalt occupies a leading position amongst the East German federal 

states in terms of infrastructural provision per head of population. The state’s transport infrastructure is, 

of course, heavily influenced by its central location at the heart of Germany and also of Europe. Today, 

the region is connected with close transport network to its neighbouring states. 

The road and rail networks of Saxony-Anhalt are amongst the densest and most efficient in Germany. 

In respect of motorways, four motorways cross the state, which are A2 (Hannover –Magdeburg – 

Berlin), A9 (Nürnberg – Halle - Berlin) A14 (Dresden – Magdeburg), and the new A38 (Göttingen-Halle). 

The well developed road network provides an excellent connection and links important transport 

arteries. 15 

Several important railways have crossed the region of Saxony-Anhalt since already the establishment 

of the German railway network in the 19th century. The three principal cities in the state, Halle, 

Magdeburg and Dessau, lie at the intersections of major German and international rail routes, and have 

access to other German and European cities through the intercity network of Deutsche Bahn AG. The 

network operated by Deutsche Bahn AG currently extends to 2.093,5 km. The normal - gauge network 

of railways not in federal ownership currently covers a distance of 944 km. In Saxony-Anhalt there are 

also 115.5 km of narrow-gauge railways in the Harz region, operated by Harzer Schmalspurbahnen 

GmbH. 

370 railway stations and request stops are served by the railways in Saxony-Anhalt. As far as rail 

freight is concerned, there is a network of 5 public trimodal interfaces, complemented by freight 

13 http://www.pub.arbeitsagentur.de/hst/services/statistik/000000/html/start/karten/aloq_kreis.html 



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transport centres and facilities for combined freight transport. 16 

The most important international airports are the airports of Leipzig – Halle, Berlin and Hannover, 

which are particularly important for their scheduled and charter flights. Saxony-Anhalt also has a 

business airport and five satellite airports for regional and business flights. 

Saxony-Anhalt is integrated into the European waterway network by means of the Rivers Elbe, Saale 

and Havel, the Elbe-Havel Canal and the Mittelland Canal. Since 2003, uninterrupted waterway access 

to Berlin has been possible, irrespective of fluctuating water-levels in the Elbe. There are 17 operating 

ports and transhipment points, as well as additional company-owned ports. 17 

5. Key features of Economy and Industry 

The main features of the economic structure 

In comparison with the other German states, Saxony-Anhalt ranks in the bottom quarter of the states in 

the field of innovation, despite of the high expenditures on financial subsidies. The reasons of this are 

the following: 

o Most of the companies in Saxony-Anhalt the are Small- and Medium Size Enterprises. More than 

95% of the companies are employing less than 50 persons. 

o There is a shortage of the large enterprises. Nationwide more than 80% of the Research and 

Development personnel are working at large enterprises. It is typical for the state, that most 

branches of such companies specialise in production and manufacturing, but either don’t engage in 

Research and Development at all, or are spending just very little on it. 

o Due to the small number and lack of size of companies engaging in R&D expenditures in this field 

are low, which also limits the intensity of cooperation between economy and sciences. 

o The limited number of companies doing research also has a negative effect on the number of employees 

specialied in R&D within the economic sector. Furthermore a substantial share of R&D in 

the business sector is carried out by public utility research institutes.. 

o Before the reunification entrepreneurship was not widely spread in Saxony-Anhalt. As a result the 

region experiences a deficit in the establishment of knowledge based and technology oriented enterprises 

16 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=6909 and http://www.sachsenanhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=22686 



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Tourism 

In the last four years Saxony-Anhalt was able to constantly increase the number of Tourists and guestnights. 

2009 the region had 2,68 Million Tourists and 6,74 Million guest-nights. The average duration of 

stay was 2,5 days. 

Saxony – Anhalt has well developed walking paths, bicycle roads, and the tourists also have a 

possibility to boat, to paddle a canoe or to sail on the channels, such as on the Elbe- Saale, on the 

Mittelland Canal, and on the Elbe-Havel Canal. The region is famous for its precious wine-growing 

culture. 18 

In Saxony-Anhalt more then 80.000 ancient monuments can be found, and 100.000 archaeology 

cultural memorials. The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 

November 2000 and reflects the englightened mindset of the Dessau court with its unique concentration 

of historic monuments. The landscape became a world view of its time. The Mansion Garden of 

Ballenstedt, the cloister parks in Drübeck, in Gardelegen, or in Wallanlagen are waiting for the 

passionate of the garden art. 19 

The Bauhaus which was founded in Weimar 1919 before continuing in Dessau between 1926 and 

1932, occupies a special role in the history of culture, architecture, design, art and the new media of the 

20th century. In 1996, both locations were included in the list of World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. 20 

Automotive industry 

Saxony-Anhalt has a strong tradition in the automotive supply industry. Magdeburg has long been a 

centre of German plant and machine construction, foundry technology has important historical links with 

the Harz region, and Dessau enjoys a reputation for high standards in the field of automotive 

engineering. Today the automotive supply industry is a key growth area. Some 240 companies 

employing a workforce in the region of 16,500 manufacture car parts or systems or provide engineering 

services as the valued partners of such distinguished manufacturers as DaimlerChrysler, VW, BMV and 

Porsche. 

Companies collaborate with the universities in Magdeburg and Halle with universities of applied 

sciences and eminent scientific societies and in the MAHREG-Automotive skills network in their pursuit 

of gaining a competitive edge through innovative materials and processes. 21 





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Bio and gene technology 


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In recent years, bio and gene technology have developed apace in Saxony-Anhalt. The state has 

gained recognition throughout the world for its proficiency in the field of plant biotechnology, which has 

evolved from its considerable expertise in the chemical and agricultural sectors. 

The industry has been further bolstered since 2003 by the joint endeavors of business and the State 

Government in the BioMitteldeutschland initiative. The InnoPlanta network shows the way forward for 

innovative plant biotechnology. 22 

Chemical industry 

The chemical industry is of considerable structural importance for the economy of Saxony-Anhalt. In 

terms of aggregate sales volume, it is the second-largest industry in the manufacturing sector. A 

significant amount has so far been invested in approximately 350 projects in the ‘chemical triangle’. The 

State Government has backed the privatisation and restructuring processes of recent years with 

considerable funds of its own, as well as with Federation and EU grants. 

o 

o 

o 

European Chemical Regions Network (ECRN): 

The ECRN has direct partners in twenty-two chemical regions of Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, 

Estonia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and the Czech Republic. Its aim is to highlight 

regional factors when developing framework requirements for the European chemical industry. 23 

Central European Chemical Network: 

A chemical industry and plastics processing network for the central German chemical triangle, 

whose aim is to create synergy effects for the sustainable development of central German chemical 

facilities. 

Association for the promotion of Polymer Development and Plastics Technology in Central 

Germany: 

It is a central German network, whose objective is to improve cooperation between science and 

industry and between individual companies along the value chain of polymer development and 

plastics technology. 24 

Service economy 

Accounting as it does for around 70 percent of the state’s gross domestic product as well as of its jobs 

market, the service sector is widely regarded today as a crucial generator of growth and employment. 

The company and personal service sectors are experiencing a particularly buoyant period of expansion. 

Saxony-Anhalt is a highly prized location for call centers. The media industry is also in the ascendancy. 

The Central German Multimedia Centre (MMZ) deserves particular recognition as part of this positive 


23 http://www.ecrn.net/abouttheecrn/welcomeandoverview.php downloaded on 29. December 


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trend. The state provides the industry with practical support through the Central German Media Fund 

(MDM). 25 

Food industry 

The food industry in Saxony-Anhalt is its most important business sector in terms of turnover and 

employment, and consequently plays a pivotal role in the state’s industrial structure. It owes this 

success to the state’s highly-productive agricultural industry and to the premium-quality primary 

products on its doorstep. Traditional brands are manufactured by the following companies, amongst 

others: Burger Knäcke AG Burg, Halloren Schokoladenfabrik Gmbh Halle, Hasseröder Braurei GmbH 

Wernigerode, Röstfein Kaffee GmbH Magdeburg, Salzwedeler Baumkuchen. 

Wood, Paper and Packaging 

Saxony-Anhalt is gaining increasing recognition in the European wood-processing industry. National 

and international markets are now being supplied with high-quality and environmentally-friendly 

products from Saxony-Anhalt. 

As a result, the wood and paper industry is experiencing an enormous growth in turnover in Saxony- 

Anhalt. The Altmark (Arneburg and Nettgau) and Magdeburg have emerged as leading players in the 

state’s wood and paper industry. 

The state’s well-developed infrastructure has also contributed to the enormous growth of this industry. 26 

Mechanical engineering 

Saxony-Anhalt has been the source of much innovation during the course of a long tradition of 

mechanical engineering, which dates back to the early days of industrialisation. Following a difficult 

period of restructuring in the early 1990s, mechanical engineering is once again a growth industry in the 

state, thanks to wide-ranging investment, and the development of new products and new markets. 

In Saxony-Anhalt, the industry typically comprises medium-sized enterprises specializing in meeting the 

particular needs of the customer, with the emphasis on low-volume production, an extensive range of 

product-related services and high quality assurance standards. 

A broad range of innovative products is available, from agricultural machinery to specialized equipment 

for high-precision production processes in the aerospace industry. Key specializations include hoists 

and conveyors, the manufacture of pumps and compressors, the machine tool industry and the 

construction of wind power plants. 27 

25 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=22611 downloaded on 11November 



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Medical technology 


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Medical technology is another growth industry which will figure large in Saxony-Anhalt’s future. The 

regional network for neuromedical technology of the Magdeburg region, known as InnoMed (German 

Website), has evolved in association with Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, the Leibniz Institute 

for Neurobiology and the ZENIT Centre for Neuroscientific Innovation. 

The network marries a high level of expertise in the neurosciences with the latest developments in 

medical technology. The research institutions collaborate closely within the association with businesses 

from in and around Magdeburg. 

The InnoLife medical engineering and technology centre in Schönebeck-Bad Salzelmen is equipped 

with an excellent infrastructure and the latest in communication technology. 28 

Logistics 

The areas around Magdeburg, Halle and Dessau are important logistics centers which have attracted 

major enterprises of the calibre of the Otto group, the Rossmann chain of chemists and Edeka The 

Swiss mail-order pharmacy Zur Rose operates a modern customer service centre in Halle. The 

American computer giant Dell opened a sales and customer service centre in Halle in 2006. 

Its central location in the European market area, its proximity to eastern European markets and the high 

standard of its transport routes, in particular of its high-capacity roads, railways and waterways, and not 

least its accessibility by air, have created favourable infrastructural conditions and made Saxony-Anhalt 

a prime business location. 

Leipzig/Halle intercontinental airport plays its own important role in this. Unrestricted 24-hour operation, 

take-off and landing without payload restrictions and the construction of a second take-off and landing 

runway are persuasive arguments in favour of air-based logistics. 29 

Mining 

Mining and closely related industries have remained an essential feature of Saxony-Anhalt, whose 

natural reserves of raw materials offer the state an important advantage as an industrial centre. 

In the field of brown coal mining the MIBRAG mbH - Profen open-cast mine and ROMONTA GmbH - 

Amsdorf open-cast mine are the main companies. With regard to potash and rock salt extraction there 

are sites in Zielitz and Bernburg. 



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With regard to Non-metallic minerals the economic restructuring process went hand in hand with mine 

redevelopment, especially in the case of brown coal. Former open-cast mines and brown field sites 

have become attractive targets for investment, in part for recreational, leisure and tourist projects. 30 

Energy 

Saxony-Anhalt is one of Germany’s principal energy providers. Despite the extensive adjustment 

process of the last decade, brown coal remains the most important source of energy extracted there, 

followed by natural gas. Renewable energy has also gained a foothold, and promises considerable 

development potential. 

Renewable energy 

Saxony-Anhalt is a great proponent of renewable energy, which accounts for 17.6 % of all the energy 

used in the state. Most of this renewable energy, indeed about 85.4 %, comes from wind power. 

Another 8.5 % is produced from biomass, 2 % from biogas, 2.4 % from hydroelectric power plants and 

0.2 % from photovoltaic plants. Landfill gas and sewage gas supply 1.3 % of its needs. 

Saxony-Anhalt is a national leader when it comes to the production of biogenous fuels: it is responsible 

for 70 % of biomethanol production capacity and 50 % of biodiesel production capacity in Germany. 

Magdeburg is home to one of the centres of wind energy plant production, namely ENERCON, the 

market leader in Germany. A photovoltaic facility of global importance is currently under construction at 

Thalheim near Wolfen. Leading and expanding manufacturers of solar cells have located to ‘Solar 

Valley’, including Q-Cells, Europe's largest independent producer, the German-American joint venture 

EverQ, and CSG Solar from Australia. 31 

Agriculture 

About 1,17 Million hectares of Saxony-Anhalt area are used for agricultural purposes, and 4.800 

companies are active in the field of agriculture in 2010. The field of Magdeburg is well-known for its 

fertile black soil. The centre of the live-stock- farming is Altmark. Grape-growing and wine-growing in 

the river valleys of Elbe, Saale and Unstrut date back to 1000 years. According to the data of 2005, 

27.738 employees worked at 4887 companies of the state, but the number of employees was only 

26.000 in 2007. One agricultural company has on average 240 hectares field. The two-thirds of the 

companies are engaged in live-stock-farming, and the other one-third is engaged in cultivation of plants. 

In Saxony-Anhalt are produced a high quality animal and vegetable products, which amount exceeds 

the national demand. The agriculture reserves and improves national resources with the appropriate 

usage of fields, and it provides the development of the regional economic structure. 



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The agriculture as an economic branch plays a very important role in the state, and it belongs to the 

most successful fields. In the past 15 years the state has been developed mainly by agriculture. The 

main reasons of this are advantageous premises and structurally good built companies. Prices of the 

agricultural products were fluctuating in 2010, however companies reached good achievements. The 

field used for vegetable growing has been increasing since 1991, and today it totals up to 5.744 

hectares. Onion (on 1.216 hectares) and asparagus (on 1.168 hectares) have also been growing in the 

state since 1995. 32 

Research and Development 

Research and innovation have a long tradition in Saxony-Anhalt. Otto von Guericke, famous for his 

experiments with vacuums and, in particular, for the “Magdeburg hemispheres” experiment which he 

presented in 1654, was also for many years the mayor of Magdeburg. Hugo Junkers built the first allmetal 

aeroplane at the Junkers works in Dessau, a pioneering innovation which was to spread the fame 

of Dessau around the world in the 1920s. 

During the same period, the Merseburg - Bitterfeld – Dessau region was evolving into a centre of the 

modern chemical industry in Germany. The first synthetic rubber, the first colour film, the first synthetic 

fibres and the first hard PVC were all produced here in the 1930s. 

This surge came to an abrupt halt with the 2nd World War and the subsequent division of Germany into 

East and West. The main reasons for this were the enormous reparations which East Germany had to 

pay the Soviet Union, coupled with a massive transfer of technology from East to West Germany, which 

was to continue until reunification in 1990. 

Today, central Germany is on the way to becoming a modern commercial and research centre. 

Saxony-Anhalt’s future lies above all in the pursuit of new technologies and in attracting industries of 

the future to locate here, creating jobs in economic sectors other than those which have been typical of 

the region in the past. 

Universities, college of art and universities of applied sciences 

The state’s universities, universities of applied sciences and colleges are the most important centres of 

publicly-subsidised research in Saxony-Anhalt. The various priorities set by research, and the 

interdisciplinary and inter-institutional cooperation between the experts who conduct it, also help the 

universities and colleges to acquire prestige which transcends state boundaries. 

32 http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=2107 and http://www.sachsenanhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=1808 


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Universities and college of art 

Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg conducts research primarily in the fields of biological 

sciences, materials sciences, the Enlightenment and pietism, schools, Oriental studies, ethnology, 

pedagogy, environmental studies, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, environmental medicine, social 

studies and agriculture. There is multidisciplinary cooperation between the subject areas of biology, 

biochemistry and biotechnology, pharmacy, medicine and agronomy. The considerable cooperation 

between the university and non-university research institutions is highly significant. 

Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg has made a name for itself for its close collaborations 

between the engineering, natural and life sciences, economic and social sciences and the humanities. 

The aim is to expand these areas in order to compete in the international arena. Computer science, 

economics, social science and the humanities are oriented primarily towards engineering and life 

sciences, and mathematics, physics and chemistry have a close bearing on the technical disciplines. 

Biology and psychology have a neuroscientific profile, and unite the disciplines of medicine, technology 

and the humanities. 

The Burg Giebichenstein College of Art in Halle contributes to research and artistic development 

projects in the fields of the liberal and applied arts, design and interior design and the fine arts. 

Universities of applied sciences 

The state’s universities of applied sciences have a growing research component, which is highly 

valued by the State Government. Research at these institutions is application-oriented, and the 

importance of technology transfer is recognised. 

Fields of research at the universities of applied sciences: 

o Mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, design, industrial design, process and 

environmental engineering, chemistry, food technology and biotechnology, electrical engineering, 

computer science and specialised communication, social affairs and health; 

o Agriculture, land stewardship, ecotrophology and architecture, construction engineering and 

surveying, water and waste management; 

o The ‘Network of expertise for applied and transfer-oriented research’ (KAT), an association of 

universities of applied sciences, with the following skills centres: 

o Anhalt University of Applied Sciences: life science skills centre; 

o Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences: skills centre for renewable resources; 

o Harz University of Applied Sciences: skills centre for information and communication technologies, 

tourism and the service industry; 

o Merseburg University of Applied Sciences: skills centre for chemistry and synthetics.33 


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o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Non-university research institutions 


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University research in Saxony-Anhalt is actively supported and complemented by an efficient system of 

non-university research institutions. These institutions are involved in a number of ways, for instance, in 

the areas of special research and innovation and in the postgraduate courses of the state’s universities. 

These establishments are institutionally supported by the state in association with the Federation and 

the German states. As well as pure research, these establishments also investigate application-oriented 

matters. Thus an attempt is made to strike a balance between pure and applied research and to make 

use of their findings in industry and commerce. The following fields of research in non-university 

institutions can be found: 

Plant research, 

Brain research, 

Environmental research, 

Materials research, 

Technological research, 

Economics research. 

Cluster potential in Saxony-Anhalt 

The main objective of the state’s innovation policy is to continue the development of the promising 

potentials of clusters. The cluster analysis evaluated the development of clusters in different fields, 

which were determined on the basis of a SWOT analysis. Based on these results 34 - among others - the 

following clusters were defined: 

o Chemical/Plastics: Cluster Chemie/Kunststoffe Mitteldeutschland 

o Automotive industry: (MAHREG) 

o Mechanical engineering 

o Renewable Energy (Bitterfeld-Wolfen) 

o Biotechnology (BioMitteldeutschland) 

o Medical 

o Creative industry (Halle) 

o Information and Nanotechnology 

Further special potentials: 

As the complementation of the cluster potential analysis, the opportunities in the usage of the biomass 

were identified. This provides a detailed review of the agricultural potential. 

The “Forestry and Wood Saxony-Anhalt” cluster study emphasizes the potentials of the effective and 

sustainable usage of the wood raw materials. 

Science and Research Potential 

Strength: Saxony-Anhalt has a well-developed science base. 

34 http://www.sachsenanhalt.de/fileadmin/Elementbibliothek/Bibliothek_Politik_und_Verwaltung/Bibliothek_Wirtschaftsministerium/ 

Dokumente_MW/investieren/Clusterpotenzialanalyse_2008.pdf 

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Weaknesses: In Saxony-Anhalt, comparing with the old states of the Federal Republic, the institutional 

incomes are 30% lower, which points out the problem of the compatibility between the supply structure 

and the science; the attitude of the demand and the low activity of the research. 

Guidelines of the innovation strategy 

The main points of the innovations are in the fields of chemical/ plastics, automotive and supplier 

industry, mechanical engineering and plant construction, biotechnology, pharmaceutical industry, 

renewable energy, medical, health care economy. These are the core areas of the state’s innovation 

policy. 

The subsidies and measures are concentrated on these main points of the innovation. At the same time 

it is possible to find other or new areas with a potential innovation and a good chance of development. 

Well-aimed Research and Development means are applied to motivate strong companies with own 

R&D activities to settle down in Saxony-Anhalt. 

An efficient innovation-oriented infrastructure is the requirement of the intensive cooperation between 

the science and the economy. 

A significant part of the subsidies, which are provided for the science, are turned to support the 

knowledge and technology transfer and applied research. 

The innovative capability and dynamic of the economy depends on the supply of well-qualified labour, 

especially in the fields of engineering and science. Several measures are taken in order to prevent 

particularly the migration of the young people; some of these have been already implemented. The 

support of Research, Development and Innovation is regarded as a complex task of the state policy in 

the recent Structural Funds Period 2007-2013. In consideration of the Structural Funds Period’s end in 

2013, the purposeful structure of the “Future Foundation for Saxony-Anhalt” must be developed. The 

programs of the EU and Saxony-Anhalt as well as the significant range of the support’s supply were 

harmonized successfully with the highlights of the state’s innovation policy in the past years. 

The following packages of measures serve the transformation of the innovation strategy: 

o Program for supporting the Research, Development and Innovation 

o Extension of the innovation infrastructure along the selected highlights 

o The improvement of the science and technology transfer 

o Supporting the establishments of innovative companies 

o The satisfaction of the labour demand 

o The communication of the Innovation strategy 

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6. Government and territory 

The federal state of Saxony-Anhalt 

The State Parliament and State Government of Saxony-Anhalt meet in its capital, Magdeburg. 

The State Parliament is re-elected every five years by the men and women of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the 

supreme constitutional body, and as such is the legislator, passing state laws, finalising the budget, 

electing the Minister-President and keeping a check on the State Government and its administration. 

The Minister-President is elected by the State Parliament, and stands at the head of the State 

Government. He determines the guidelines of government policy and bears responsibility for these. 

Each Minister manages his own portfolio independently within these guidelines, and is personally 

responsible for his actions. The State Government rules collectively on all matters which are devolved 

upon it by law. At present, the State Government comprises another nine Ministers in addition to the 

Minister-President; they run the State Chancellery and the various government departments. The State 

Chancellery is the official residence of the Minister-President. It assists the Head of Government in 

establishing and implementing policy guidelines as well as in his function as the figurehead of the state. 

It coordinates the work of the Government and the administration. The municipalities (local authorities 

and rural districts) of Saxony-Anhalt and the local authority associations are responsible for 

administering their own affairs in accordance with the law. They elect their own assemblies every five 

years, which assist and monitor the work of the chief administrative officers and the Mayors. Both the 

state constitution and the municipal constitution must be observed. The municipalities and rural districts 

have their own coats of arms in addition to the state coat of arms. 35 

Territory 

The area of Saxony-Anhalt consists of 3 urban districts 

(“Kreisfreie Städte”): Dessau-Roßlau, Halle (Saale) and 

Magdeburg; and 11 districts (“Landkreise”): 

Distribution of the EU resources 

The largest part of Saxony-Anhalts falls under the 

convergence objective. These regions receive the largest 

means of the Structural Funds. There is a gradual 

distribution of resources in the state as Halle belongs to 

the Phasing-out regions. Convergence regions 

Magdeburg/Dessau receive 53% of subsidies; and the 

area of Halle receives 22,8% of resources. 24,2% of 

means is distributed in a regionally undefined way, that is financed from the EAFRD (ELER) and EFF. 


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7. Key development challenges for Saxony – Anhalt 


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Since reunification in 1990, Saxony-Anhalt has developed a reputation as an innovative business 

centre. The business community in Germany and abroad particularly values the region because of: 

o its rapidly developing innovation potential, 

o its skilled and highly motivated workforce, 

o its extremely competitive labour costs compared with elsewhere in Germany ensure lower operating 

costs 

o its well-developed infrastructure, 

o its innovative research landscape, 

o its attractive selection of industrial and commercial sites, and its affordable property prices and 

rents, 

o its rapid licensing procedures and short authorization times, 

o the unparalleled financial support which is available, 

o the high quality of its leisure and recreational facilities. 

Since 1990, new industries such as the automotive industry, biotechnology, information and 

communication technology and the service sector have become established alongside more traditional 

sectors such as the chemical industry, mechanical engineering and the food industry. 

In spite of these excellent basic conditions Saxony-Anhalt is nevertheless facing a couple of challenges 

to hold and increase the developed status quo. 

SME support and co-operation 

In Saxony-Anhalt, large-scale enterprises with own research capacities, which often represents 

concentration cores of enterprise-intensive research, are absent. 95% of the enterprises occupy less 

than 50 employees. Typically for Saxony-Anhalt are establishments reduced to production plants or 

manufacturing sites to a great extent without R&D-activities. Hence, the cooperation intensity between 

science and economy is also limited. The greatest obstacle in the innovation process is the small equity 

capitalisation because of the small-scale business structure. Because of the historical situation a high 

above average part of the companies are relatively young and not yet established on the market. 

Therefore the main targets for SME support are: 

o Widen the support structure of public institutions on all administrative levels 

o Expansion of existing innovation focuses 

o Perfection of innovation-oriented infrastructure 

o Strengthening of the universities, universities of applied sciences and external-university research 

establishments as an innovation and economic factor 

o Improvement of knowledge and technology transfer 

o Qualification of professionals 

o Support of institutions and foundations of innovation and knowledge-based enterprises 

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The public innovation promotion needs to be improved, in particular by increasing the performance and 

efficiency of the innovation transfer between SMEs. 

To foster the exchange of experiences between project partners in this specific topic will be essential 

and could be achieved by: 

o 

o 

o 

collecting best practices, especially those being integrated into the Mainstream-Programmes 

project ideas multiplying positive effects of the structural funds support 

efficient assistance measures, adjusted to the current economic situation 

Internationalisation and Innovation: 

Despite of the good potential and the high expenditures in this field Saxony-Anhalt ranks in comparison 

with the other German states in the bottom quarter of the states. One reasons for this is that Saxony- 

Anhalt has an unfavourable economic structure. As already stated earlier most of the companies are 

Small- and Medium Size Enterprises, and more than 95% of the companies are employing less than 50 

persons. The shortage of large enterprises leads to a lack of research and development personnel 

which is needed to develop the field of innovation. In consideration of the conservation law, Saxony- 

Anhalt stood at the last place with 538 patent applications in 2005. This situation needs to be changed 

by an advanced internationalization strategy focusing innovation, including the permanent improvement 

of the administration structures for consulting of SMEs and local authorities. To improve 

internationalisation of the transfer institutes, clusters and networks and therefore also the SME´s is 

moreover one of the priority topics of prevailing policy. 

Demography 

In the past 20 years the number of population of Saxony-Anhalt has been declining rapidly. Comparing 

the number of the population in 2008 with the data of 1990, it was an 18 % decrease from 1990 to 

2008. The reasons for this rapid decrease are migration, which contributes to the total decrease by 

40%, and the decline in the number of births, which contributes to the total decrease by 60%. The 

problem alongside this figures is that the high migration leads to a lack of skilled employees for the 

industry and the SMEs in Saxony-Anhalt. The proportion of people between 20 and 65 years old will 

decrease from 61.4% in 2008 to 53.8% in 2025. In the same time the proportion of people older than 65 

years will increase from 23.7% to 31.2%. 36 This figures point out the importance of innovative strategies 

to handle the demography situation. 

Change of cohesion status 

In the current 2007–2013 funding period, EU regional policy consists of three objectives. The largest 

part of Saxony-Anhalt falls under the convergence objective (beginning from 71,7 % GDP of the EU-25 

average). These regions receive the largest means of the Structural Funds. There is a gradual 

distribution of resources in the state as Halle belongs to the Phasing-out regions. Convergence regions 

Magdeburg/Dessau receive 53% of subsidies; and the area of Halle receives 22,8% of resources. 

36 http://www.stala.sachsen-anhalt.de/bevoelkerung/prognose/index.html (April 2010) 

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24,2% of means are distributed in a regionally undefined way, that is financed from the EAFRD (ELER) 

and EFF. 

In the 2014 – 2020 funding period Saxony-Anhalt will lose its convergence status and consequentially 

the means from the structural funds will decrease. In respect of this situation Saxony-Anhalt has to 

develop a strength internationalisation strategy to accomplish the upcoming tasks. 

Renewable Energy 

Saxony-Anhalt is a proponent and precursor in the field of renewable energy. 17.6 % of all the energy 

used in the state is delivered by renewable energy. Most of this, namely 85.4 %, comes from wind 

power. Another 8.5 % is produced from biomass, 2 % from biogas, 2.4 % from hydroelectric power 

plants and 0.2 % from photovoltaic plants. Landfill gas and sewage gas supply 1.3 % of its needs. 

Saxony-Anhalt aims for a broader use, but is facing the problem of high investment and maintenance 

costs despite of high subventions. It is foreseeable that the subventions will decrease in the next years 

and together with the not permanently good climatic conditions in Saxony-Anhalt especially the 

solar/photovoltaic sector has to develop more innovative applications. Nevertheless such installations 

are more and more used in public institutions. 

E-Government 

Saxony-Anhalt possesses a politically accepted E-Government concept and has a high awareness of 

the significance of E-Government. A co-operation between the federal states Thuringia, Saxony and 

Saxony-Anhalt and the participation in the initiative of the German state “Deutschland Online” are the 

right steps to head for a strength and flexible E-Government infrastructure. Nevertheless Saxony-Anhalt 

has problems in catching up with recent developments due to old technical equipment and software 

which e.g. allows only a few Web 2.0 applications. Other problems are different levels in qualification of 

E-Government staff and differences in technical equipment and software between several institutions. 

Opportunities like E-Payment, E-Procurement, E-Voting and E-Signature are under discussion but far 

from realisation. 

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CHAPTER 1.2 

ESZAK-ALFÖLD 


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1. Key Regional Data (2010): 

o Area: 17.729 km2 

o Population: 1.514.020 

o Population density: 85,39 capita/km2 

o GDP: 12.090.000.000 Dollar 

o GDP/capita: 7.955 Dollar 

o Employment rate: 47 % 

o Activity rate: 57,4 % 

o Unemployment rate: 9,7 % 

2. Location & Geography 

Comprising three counties (Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok és Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg), the 

Észak-Alföld Region is situated along the Eastern border of the Republic of Hungary. 

The Region borders two EU member states (Slovakia and Romania) and a non-EU country (Ukraine) 

along a 6 km and a 338 km section respectively of the state frontier. Along the border, areas forming a 

geographical or an ecological unit stretch beyond the state frontier. The region has a border river, 

namely the River Tisza that surrounds the region from north. 

3. Education & Health System (*) 

At the pre-school level overcrowded crèches pose a serious problem. Compared to the national 93.4% 

utilisation, the corresponding figure for Észak-Alföld Region is over 100 %. Establishment of further 

capacity is required. In 2008, there were 89 crèches in the Region with a capacity of 3.376 children but 

the demand would be 4.464. 

Similarly to national trends, Észak-Alföld Region has also witnessed a drop in the number of primary 

school students (academic year 2001/2002: 165,045 students; academic year 2005/200: 151,945 

students; 2008: 140,092). Although the number of teachers did not follow this trend for a long time 

(academic year 2001/2002: 14,708 teachers, academic year 2003/2004: 14,797 teachers), during 

recent years the number decreased significantly (academic year 2005/2006 –14,178 teachers 2008 – 

12,581). In terms of quantity indicators, (number of classrooms, number of students in a class, the 

teacher-to-student ratio) differences between the individual schools are not material. However, when it 

comes to quality (e.g. availability of language classes, IT infrastructure, study circles, out of curricula 

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activities, availability of teaching/learning material, the standard of school infrastructure, sports facilities, 

etc.), the picture is completely different. As a rule, standard is lower in smaller settlements. 

In the 1990s, simultaneously with changes at a national and global level, secondary level education 

also underwent a fundamental structural transformation in Észak-Alföld Region. As the number and 

proportion of students at trade schools fell significantly, the other two types of secondary education 

(grammar school and secondary modern school) grew in importance. As a result, the number of 

students at secondary modern schools (former trade schools), vocational schools and grammar schools 

standing at 76,464 in the academic year 1990/1991 rose, according to preliminary data to 89,499 in 399 

institutions of secondary education in the academic year 2005/2006. As a result of the above 

referenced processes, the Region now faces a shortage of skilled workers, which may hinder the 

development of both processing and construction industry. 

Institutions of higher education have a long-standing tradition in the region, with specialised 

institutions among them. Debrecen is a major and dynamically developing university centre of not only 

the Region, but also the country. University level education is available only in Debrecen, while collegelevel 

education is available in Nyíregyháza, Szolnok, Hajdúböszörmény, Jászberény and Mezőtúr. In 

2009 370.000 students were participating in higher education. 

Észak-Alföld Region is a region with the youngest age composition in Hungary: the ageing index 

was the lowest in both 2001 and 2005. Within the Region Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County is in the 

most favourable situation, as its ageing index was below 1 even in 2005, which is ascribable to the high 

proportion of the Roma population. However, in the coming period, similar to the national trend, ageing 

is expected to accelerate, which, in turn, will lead to an increase in those in need of care. In 2009, the 

ageing index was 109,9. Despite a mortality ratio that is below the national average, the population’s 

state of health is far from being good. An analysis of the individual age groups shows that, except for 

the age group of 0-9, regional data are worse than national figures in all the other age groups. In 

addition, despite some improvement over the past years, in respect of life expectancy at birth, the 

Region ranked penultimate among the regions for both men (69,8 yrs, 2008) and women (77,8 yrs, 

2008). 

Unfavourable health data are likely to be related to the fact that the standard of health care is not 

satisfactory, and that the distribution of and load on healthcare are uneven. The development of the 

institutional system cannot catch up with the number of those in need of care. Although in terms of the 

availability of pharmacies (318 pharmacies in 2007) and ambulance, Észak-Alföld Region ranks 2nd-3rd 

(as regards the former, it should be noted that there are no pharmacies open for the public in 130 

settlements of the Region). It ranks last among the regions in the country in respect of the provision of 

GP and penultimate in respect of the mean indicators of hospital beds. A further problem is the absence 

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of complex centres of prevention and health protection, leisure centres and those promoting regular 

exercise, multi-functional community space and a regional healthcare system tending local residents as 

well as the low standard or, in some areas, a lack of institutions of rehabilitation. 

4. Key features of the Economy Industry (*) 

Energy 

Pursuant to the applicable EU stipulations, the share of renewable energy resources in domestic 

energy consumption will have to increase from the current 3.6% to 12% in 2010 in the European Union. 

Furthermore, in Hungary the share of electricity generated from renewable energy resources will have 

to increase from 0.8% in the base period to 3.6%. In this context, the utilisation of the potential offered 

by solar cells, solar panels, wind turbine generators, biomass-based heat and electricity generating 

system, the availability of homes heated by biomass, liquid bio fuels and other alternative fuels (e.g. 

hydrogen fuel supported by wind power stations) is very low in the Észak-Alföld Region. A further 

possibility is the utilisation of geothermic energy. 

Such a low level of utilisation clearly indicates that only isolated developments have been implemented 

so far. The country’s only biodiesel plant is in Kunhegyes. Biogas is produced in Nyírbátor. Wind power 

stations as recent developments in this area have been commissioned in Mezőtúr and 

Törökszentmiklós. Local communal boiler plants in Vásárosnamény and Mátészalka have switched 

over to wood chip-based heating. This is in stark contrast to the fact that the amount of available 

reserves is considerable. The annual number of sunny hours increases in the North-South direction, 

exceeding 2,000 hours in most areas in the Region and it stands at 2,050 hours in the southern areas. 

The Region exhibits heterogeneous agrarian characteristics. There is excellent arable land in the 

Hajdúság and Jászság areas, the areas with less favourable characteristics where food industry-related 

production is to be discontinued are suitable for the cultivation of plants that can be utilised for energy 

production. Although the average speed of wind is below that in Transdanubia, scores of settlements in 

mainly West Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County are contemplating the utilisation of wind power. Although 

nearly all settlements with thermal wells have, at one point, considered the idea of utilising geothermic 

energy, today it is still massively underutilised despite the geothermic gradient value in the Great Plain 

being three times the global average. 

Agriculture 

In respect of Hungary’s agricultural development, the Észak-Alföld Region is a key strategic area. 

21.7% of the country’s agricultural land is in this region, which ranks second after the South Great Plain 

among the regions in Hungary. The area of cultivated land is 1.502.164 acres. Based on gross added 

value and employment (183.000 direct employment in 2007, but 1,3 million indirect employment), 

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agriculture plays a significant role in all three counties of the region. A further asset is that natural 

heritage/attributes and expertise needed for manufacturing certain agricultural products are available in 

the region, which provides an excellent basis for the evolvement of an innovative and competitive 

agrarian economy. However, there is hardly any efficient manufacturing, processing and distributionrelated 

cooperation between the individual agricultural producers, and the number of highly processed 

agricultural products is low. Poor production security is attributable to an inadequate background, i.e. 

the absence of a physical infrastructure needed for efficient business management, logistic systems 

that lag behind in terms of quantity and quality, the deficiencies or the inadequate standard of quality 

assurance, agrarian innovation and marketing in several areas. 

Industry 

Industrial production underwent significant development in the Észak-Alföld Region between 2000 

and 2005: 2004 figures are 144.6% of the 2000 figures exceeding the national rate of 141.7%. The 

growth rate still improving in 2010 with its 106,4 % compared to the previous year. Although growth was 

the fastest in Hajdú-Bihar County, it also exceeded national average in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and 

Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Counties. Specific indicators concerning industrial production also corroborate 

the fact that industry in the Észak-Alföld Region developed at a fast pace. 

Industrial parks, the number of which was 206 in 2008 in Hungary, play an important role in industrial 

development nationally. 33 of them are located in the Észak-Alföld Region; however, the low level of 

their utilisation is an unmistakeable indication of the fact that despite the developments launched, in 

respect of several indicators (e.g. net size of built-in areas (55.3%), number of those employed, volume 

of investment). 

Services/Tourism & Sport 

The Észak-Alföld Region has much to offer in terms of tourist attractions. A potential natural resource 

and the most valuable asset of the tourist industry are mineral and thermal water reserves. There are 

213 thermal wells operational in the region; baths of various types can be found at 57 places, with 33 of 

them using thermal water suitable for medicinal purposes. The potential offered by health tourism has 

been best utilised in Hajdú-Bihar County, where the spa in Hajdúszoboszló has earned international 

recognition. Conditions (e.g. high quality baths and pools as well as the related medical services) for 

medicinal and thermal water to be gainfully utilised internationally are only available at few places only. 

Hortobágy, the largest contiguous expanse of grassland (or “puszta” (heathland, steppe)) in Central 

East Europe and a World Heritage site, is by far the most valuable asset of the region. The Hortobágy 

National Park was the first and the largest of its kind in Hungary. Besides Hortobágy, there is another 

national part (the Körös-Maros National Park) as well as 4 protected districts, 19 nature reserves and a 

further 123 areas of local importance in the region. 

Appeal associated with waters like the River Tisza and its tributaries plays an important role in what 

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the Region has to offer in terms of tourism. The upper and middle sections of the River Tisza are 

popular with lovers of water sports. Rivers are key components of eco-tourism, as fishing, water sports 

and equestrian tourism attract many nature lovers to the region. Lake Tisza is famous for its unique 

natural beauty. In the interest of the further development of hunting great emphasis must be placed on 

the preservation, in terms of both quality and quantity, of the game stock which is of excellent quality. 

Ecclesiastical heritage and related monuments, highlights and events also represent an important 

appeal to tourists, mainly those from the neighbouring regions. Further assets from the point of view of 

tourism include the relics of traditional lifestyle and farming, folk traditions (Jászság, Nagykunság, 

Hortobágy, Hajdúság, Szatmár and Bereg), folk crafts as well as stately homes and mansions, most still 

vacant and unutilised. 

Event tourism also has long-standing traditions. Events are, for the most part, cultural events (e.g. 

folkdance festivals and theatre festivals with the participation of national theatre companies), events that 

are either evocative of local traditions or offer culinary delights (e.g. equestrian days, goulash festival, 

shepherds’ days, etc.) and events of local or regional importance. Currently, the number of 

internationally famous events (such as the Debrecen Flower Show, the Goulash Festival in Szolnok, 

Summer in Jászberény and Fruit Show in Nyíregyháza, etc.) is low. It is mainly county towns that host 

fairs, exhibitions and conferences; currently, only Debrecen has the necessary facilities for events 

involving large contingents of guests or visitors; the other two county towns and Jászberény and 

Hajdúszoboszló can only host events with fewer attendees or visitors. 

The volume of tourism in the Észak-Alföld Region can be characterised by a specific duality, which is 

attributable, fundamentally, to the significant territorial imbalance in tourism. Both capacity and 

frequency of visits are concentrated in places with special appeal (concentration is even stronger in the 

case of foreign visitors), which have the necessary infrastructure in terms of both accommodation and 

other services (the concentration of guest sights is the highest in this region). Seasonality is a further 

problem that faces the region. Despite the decline experienced over the past few years, the Észak- 

Alföld Region has managed to retain its position in the midleague among the regions in Hungary. In 

2009, number of guests at private accomodation was 120.158 and number of guest nights was 

418.458. The same figures in terms of commercial accommodation were 104.589 guests and 326.712 

guest nights. 

The institutional system of tourism in the region is diversified. It includes local governmental alliances 

operating side by side, various micro-regional and county associations, those involved with regional 

level tourism-related responsibilities and NGOs. Tourinform Offices (there are 23 of them) are of great 

importance. In addition to the above organisations, there are 31 travel agencies and tour operators in 

the Region. Magyar Turizmus Zrt. (Hungarian Tourism Private Limited Company), Észak-alföldi 

Regionális Marketingigazgatóság (Észak-Alföld Regional Marketing Directorate) and Tisza-tavi 

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Regionális Turisztikai Projektiroda (Lake Tisza Project Office for Regional Tourism) are responsible for 

regional marketing aimed at the promotion of tourism. 

R & D and Innovation System 

Research and development, which is mostly closely related to higher education, is one of the 

strengths of the Észak-Alföld Region. There 4.932 closely related employees in this sector (2008). At 

the same time, however, it also raises certain concerns. The region ranks second in terms of the ratio of 

R&D expenditure to the GDP, third in terms of R&D expenditure per resident and fourth in terms of the 

share of R&D employees. Overall, by domestic standards, it has a very strong research base. Of the 

problems R&D faces, the most important is the fact that there are no R&D institutions in most cases. 

Nor are there networks connecting businesses, which could ensure the utilisation of research results 

and increase the proportion of market-oriented applied research. 

5. Accessibility & Transport Infrastructure (*) 

Due to its geographical location, the Észak-Alföld Region could play a key role in freight transport 

logistics. The size, economic activity, transport infrastructure and geographical location of the country 

taken into consideration, a network of 11 logistics districts and 13 national logistics centres has been 

delineated; of the latter, three (Záhony, Debrecen and Szolnok) are in the region. However, in order for 

the relevant potential to be utilised, the transport network needs to be developed, which is, however, 

hindered by the fact that transport corridors of European importance and routes with heavy traffic do not 

always coincide in the Észak-Alföld Region. 

A striking characteristic that the distribution of the road network by road types reveals is that, although 

several TEN routes cross the region, the proportion of motorways and motor roads, which best ensure 

fast access, is low. Although the new motorway sections (M3) opened in the course of 2006 and 2007 

will improve accessibility, a significant part of the region – particularly its areas along the western, 

southern and eastern borders – still have no connection with the Hungarian and international motor 

roads, and is outside both the 15-minute and the 30-minute agglomerations. The region’s axis in 

respect of road transport is Main Road no. 4, which is considerably overloaded by transit traffic. 

Today, the cycle lanes of 6 national networks cross the Észak-Alföld Region. The total length of the 

cycle lanes in the region (772.3 km) accounts for 14.1% of the main national network (5,493 km). Most 

(52.8%) run along dykes; over one-third (or 37.4%) runs along public roads. The low number and 

density of cycle lanes and the absence of environmental awareness of the regional population and 

decision-makers seriously hamper the spread of this environment-friendly, sustainable and healthy 

means of transport. 

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In terms of the density of rail links, the region’s railway network is above the national average; 

however, the proportion of electrified links and those controlled with automated safety equipment is 

below the national average. As regards the general physical condition of the rails, special duality can be 

identified. The rail links which, owing to their relative development, play an important role in 

international communications, allow for high-speed (over 100 km per hour) traffic. By contrast, due to 

the scarcity of funds, rails along other major and minor links are rather amortised, with speed limit 

becoming the order of the day. A further problem is an obsolescence of the fleet. 

The airport in Debrecen - operating as a permanent international commercial airport since April 2003 - 

plays an important role regarding to air traffic. Due to its size and location, the airport has the potential 

of a future transit airport handling both passenger and cargo traffic. The airfields in Szolnok and 

Nyíregyháza are likely to become destinations for scheduled domestic and international flights only in 

the longer term; the airfield in Kunmadaras has the potential of a future transit cargo airport over the 

medium term. 

6. Level of Territory Governance (*) 

The Region consists of 3 counties (Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, this 

is NUTS 3 level), and 28 microregions (Lau 1), that covers the whole territory of the Region. Regions 

and microregions are the basic spatial elements of territorial developments in Hungary. Furthermore, 

there are 389 municipalities in the Region. Unfortunately, the Hungarian municipal system is not 

effective since the number of municipalities is too high. This is also a problem in terms of EU funds 

because instead of 28 microregion 389 municipalities are standing in the queue applying for different 

financial funds. 

The municipalities of the Region are responsible for all the problem solving in terms of the settlements, 

however these tasks have to be rationalised because, presently, a municipality have several hundreds 

of different responsibilities to carry out. There is going to be a change in the territorial governance with 

the establishment of county level institutions. The main role of these institutions is to take over and 

centralise some tasks from the municipalities, and to create a „one-stop” system. 

Main actor of the distribution of EU funds in the Region is the Észak-Alföld Regional Development 

Agency. The Agency has around 150 employees and it focuses on the distribution and management of 

the Regional Development Programme. 

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7. Territory & Environment (*) 

Infrastructural facilities in dwellings in the Észak-Alföld Region have undergone significant 

development in the new millennium. The length of public utility pipelines supplying drinking water grew 

from 9,544.3 km to 9,787.2 between 2001 and 2006; simultaneously, the proportion of dwellings with 

piped drinking water also improved. As a result of such growth, early in 2006, regional figures (94.1%) 

reached the national average (94.1%); as regards the ranking of regions, the region outperformed the 

North Hungarian and South Great Plain Regions struggling with significant backwardness and ranked 

fifth. With drinking water supply, a key problem facing the Észak-Alföld Region is that drinking water 

from stratum water is contaminated (arsenic, ammonia, iron, manganese, boron, nitrite, etc.) which 

affects over 60% of the settlements here. 

Of late, focus has been shifted onto and significant funds have been allocated to the development of the 

sewage system; as a result, there has been a sharp rise in the length of the sewage pipelines (3,138.3 

km → 4,957.6 km) and the number of dwellings with piped sewage disposal (193,940 → 294,591) 

between 2001 and 2006. Development was, however, only able to reduce the degree of backwardness. 

Thus, in early 2006, with 48.7%, the Észak-Alföld Region ranked penultimate. Mainly at minor 

settlements, where there is no piped sewage disposal or where it is only partially available, sewage is 

collected in desiccating units or settling tanks, which are usually not properly sealed, giving rise to 

significant problems. In a significant number of the micro-regions within the region (10 out of 27) the 

proportion of dwellings with piped sewage disposal (30%) was less than half the national average 

(65.0%) in 2004. 

Owing to EU assistance, the number of the settlements and the proportion of dwellings in the Észak- 

Alföld Region involved in regular and scheduled waste collection has been on the increase (in 2006: 

356 places, i.e. close to 91.5% of the settlements in the region and 85.7% of the dwellings, which is still 

lower than the national average (91.0%)); selective waste collection is also becoming common. 

Nevertheless, we are still laying down the foundations for state-of-the-art waste management. In 2001, 

close to 4 million tons of waste was generated in the region; most (37%) was non-hazardous waste 

generated in agriculture and food industry; the quantity of solid and liquid communal waste (12.8% and 

22.8% respectively) as well as industrial and construction/inert waste (7.62% and 11.9% respectively) is 

also significant. The proportion of waste types differs significantly from what is customary in the rest of 

the country. 

Due to a lower level of industrialisation, air pollution is less of a concern here than elsewhere in the 

country; nevertheless, the public administration area of Szolnok and Nyíregyháza and the environs of 

Debrecen, based on their classification into air pollution zones is rated as a polluted area. In addition to 

air pollution, pollution caused by ragweed and pollen is also significant, the Észak-Alföld Region being 

one of the most afflicted areas in this respect. 

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Except for the River Zagyva, all the rivers in the region rise abroad, this determines water quality. The 

water quality of the River Tisza, which criss-crosses the region, varies between “good” and “moderately 

good”. The water quality of the Szamos, the Kraszna, the Túr and the Sebes Körös, its tributaries rising 

in areas beyond the border varies widely, the underlying reason being the industrial, mining and 

communal pollutants along the sections of the River beyond the border. Lake Tisza, one of the country’s 

largest lakes is situated in this Region; the quality of its water is, on the whole, good, although siltation, 

the appearance of algae and the proliferation of saligot (Water Chesnut) give rise to concerns. Oxbows 

branching off the River Tisza represent a special issue; although they are in differing conditions, they 

are all invaluable in terms of nature protection, agriculture, recreation and environmental protection. 

The most important natural resource of the region is stratum water, the utilisation of which is 26%, and 

is mainly restricted to cities and towns (in particular, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Jászberény, 

Törökszentmiklós, Mezőtúr, Tiszaföldvár-Martfű and Túrkeve). 

The most serious risks to environment security in the Észak-Alföld Region include floods, excess 

surface water, the contamination of the rivers that rise abroad and the absence of an international 

monitoring system that can forecast or alert to them. Comprehensive flood protection along the River 

Tisza is yet to be solved in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and Jász- Nagykun-Szolnok counties; the current 

infrastructure of dykes fails to comply with the requirements that take into consideration benchmark 

flood levels. In the years to come the Advanced Vásárhelyi Plan is envisaged to play a key role in 

finding a resolution to the dismal situation and in mitigating the impact of the problems. 

Woodland in the region is below the national average (12% compared with the national 19.1%), which 

is further compounded by its fragmented nature. As regards the region’s natural heritage, original 

phytocoenoses are few and far between. Nevertheless, linked to the rivers here and Hortobágy, 

Hungary’s first national park and a world heritage site, there are protected areas of considerable size in 

the region. The Region’s habitats of national importance are situated in sandy woods, sandy 

grassland, loess grassland, floodland forests, floodland meadow, saline grassland and marshland. 

These habitats and some of the protected species, which are more or less independent of such 

habitats, are today endangered, as fragmentation, reduction in the size of habitats, human interference, 

reduction in the diversity of species and desiccation threaten their survival. 

There are vast expanses of Natura 2000 areas (overlapping bird sanctuary and nature conservation 

areas) with a combined size of approximately 367,000 hectares, accounting for close to 21% of the 

entire area of the region. The most important natural resource in the Észak-Alföld Region as one of the 

country’s most significant farming region is arable land. Several factors of land degradation (e.g. 

acidification, wind erosion, alkalisation, erroneous cultivation, industrial and communal waste, 

erroneous groundwater management) threaten the condition of the various types of soil in the Region, 

which may lead to loss in the value and structure of the soil and, hence, a decrease in crops. 

8. Key development challenges for Eszak-Alföld 

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CHAPTER 1.3 

COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA 


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IPP 1st BENCHMARK REPORT 

1.-Key Regional Data: 

o Area 37 : 23 255 km2 

o Population (2008) 38 : 5 029 601 

o Foreign residents: more than 10% 

o Population density (2008) 39 : 216 persons/km2 

o GDP (2008) 40 : 105 554,21 million euro 

o GDP/capita (2008): 21 336 euro per inhabitant 

o Employment rate (2008) 41 : 64,7% 

o Activity rate (2006): 71,8% 

o Unemployment rate (2008): 12,1% 

2.-Location & Geography 

The Valencian region lies in the East of Spain and accounts for 632 km 

of coastline. It borders with Catalonia in the north, Aragon and Castile- 

La Mancha in the west, the region of Murcia in the south, and the 

Mediterranean Sea in the east. 

The region's territory can be divided into two zones: 

the flat coastal strip, that appears to be fertile, temperate, and 

attractive as a tourist area, and the rugged interior, not easily 

accessible, and sparsely populated, including the districts of Alto 

Maestrazgo and the Rincón de Ademuz, where the soil is of only 

limited agricultural use. 

The region is composed of three provinces: Alicante, Castellon and Valencia, covering a total area of 23 

255 square kilometres. The Valencian Community has extensive forest and shrub areas, covering a 

area of 1,215,007 ha; more than the 50 % of the Valencian Region. 

The long coastline opens the region to the sea and encourage tourism activities, recreational fishing, 

37 Source: http://www.ive.infocentre.gva.es/ 

38 Source: (IVE) Instituto Valenciano de Estadística. http://www.ive.infocentre.gva.es/ 



4 Source: (IVE) Instituto Valenciano de Estadística and EUROSTAT 

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aquaculture and maritime transport of goods thank to its main ports. 

The population density of the region has recorded a 8,57% percentuage increase between 2005 and 

2009. It is higher in the central and southern regions, where it has considerably increased especially in 

all the coastal cities and towns, as a result of the seasonal tourism. 

In 2008, the population density in the three province capitals were 42 : 

Valencia: 807200 inhabitants 

Alicante: 331708 inhabitants 

Castellón de la Plana: 17774 inhabitants. 

A significant immigration, has influenced the data; foreigners make up a considerable percentage of the 

population with their total number exceeding 700.000 inhabitants. 

3.-Education & Health System 43 

Education System 

Education is primary under the Spanish State’s responsibility, but it has transferred the power to 

manage it to the Valencian Region, the Comunidad Valenciana. 

The Education System divided the studies in levels, described in the following diagram 44 : 

Education Nº students Public Private 

Preparatory school: 3-6 years old 157.981 65% 35% 

Primary and secondary 

school (6-16 years old) 

Primary School: 

from 6 to 12 years old 

(6 school years) 

Compulsory Secondary School: 

from 12 to 16 years old 

(4 school years) 

Optional school 

Professional training/ Vocational 49.387 

271.247 68% 32% 

Bachillerato: from 16 to 18 years old (2 courses previous University) 56.991 78% 22% 

42 IVE: Instituto Valenciano de Estadística 

43 Source: Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Peer Review 

Report: Valencia, Spain (Enrique A. Zepeda, Francisco Marmolejo, Dewayne Matthews, Martí Parellada) - October 

2006 (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/10/37809394.pdf) 

44 Comité Económico y Social de la CV (CES). www.ces.gva.es 

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The Valencian Higher Education System is made up of eight universities, five of which are public and 

two are private. 

Public Universities: 

 

 

 

 

 

Universitat de València (UV) 

Universidad de Alicante 

Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) 

Universidad Jaume I de Castellón 

Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche 

Main Private Universities: 

 

 

 

Universidad Cadenal Herrera-CEU 

Universidad Católica de Valencia-San Vicente Mártir 

Universidad Internacional Valenciana-Valencian International University (VIU) 

Four of these universities are located in the city of Valencia, two in Castellón, one in Alicante, and one 

in Elche. Some of them have campuses situated in other towns. There are approximately 146,000 students 

enrolled in the Valencian university system; 13,000 of which are enrolled in the private sector. 

The higher education institutions offer a wide range of competitive degrees. 

Universities: 8 (5 public+ 3 main privates) 

Number of students at university: 146,000 (13,000 in private, covering the 9%) 

Number of students/10,000 inhab: 299 

The universities of the Valencian Community involve the majority of Spanish students and record the 

greatest number of agreements with companies in the whole Spain. The Valencian Community, with its 

26,993 agreements with companies, is the first in Spain in this field, followed by Madrid (24,678) and 

Catalonia Region (21,534). 

The two most important Valencian universities are: Univesitat de València and Universidad Politécnica 

de Valencia (UPV). 

 

Univesitat de València: 

On 30 th April, 1499, after the request of the Council of Valencia, the "Constitutions de los 

estudios" of the university were published. Those are considered the founding documents of the 

University (as a matter of facts, from October 1999 to July 2000 commemorative events on the 

5th centenary of this institution took place). 

Approved by the bull of Pope Alexander IV, in 1501, and the following Royal Privilege by Ferran 

II, the General Study of València celebrated its official opening (13th October 1502). 

In reaching the university status, stated in different prerogatives and distinctions, the General 

Study of Valencia became as important as the universities of Rome, Bologna, Salamanca and 

Lleida. At first it offered studies on medicine, theology, humanities and law. 

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Nowadays the University of Valencia is a referent model of leadership worldwide. It is: 

o the second European university in receiving students participating at the European 

“Erasmus” project. 

o among the ten best universities in the world where is it possible to learn Chinese language 

and culture, as confirmed by the Chinese government. 

o the forth Spanish university; and as ranked by the University Jiao Tong of Shanghai, it 

holds a high worldwide position; between 201 and 300. 

The UV has recently obtained the recognition as “Campus of International Excellence” on the 

part of the Department of Education, for his project VLC/Campus, developed in cooperation with 

the Politechnical University of Valencia (UPV), and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones 

Científicas (CSIC)). 

The UV has 3 campus sites. In the year 2010-2011, it has recorded a total of 50,400 students, 

3,400 members staff working on teaching and research, 1,800 administrative and services staff. 

It´s the most internationalized Valencian university, with 2,000 students proceeding from other 

universities of the world, and more than 1,300 of its students are involved in programs of 

international mobility. 

Likewise, it counts with the major offer of studies with 53 qualifications of degree, 4 programs of 

double qualifications, 70 doctorates, 97 másters officials, and 309 own titles of postdegree.The 

university is organized in 18 powers and university schools, with 92 departments, 19 institutes 

of investigation, as well as central and general services that develop services of support to the 

teaching and investigation, general functioning and cultural, sports and educational services. 

 

Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV): 

Although the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia is the unique Spanish university dealing with 

technological topics, it is ranked among the best in the World (Academic Ranking of World 

Universities, compiled by University Jiao Tong of Shangai). 

The UPV is a public institution that offers modern, flexible degrees designed to meet the 

demands of the society. It offers official postgraduate programmes, that answer to the requests 

of the educational quality control systems. 

It has 3 campus sites, and record a total of 36,187 students. 2,843 members staff working on 

teaching and research, 2,396 administrative and services staff. Its study offer includes twelve 

schools and three faculties, forty-four Institutes and Researching Centres, twenty-six of which 

belong to the Polytechnic City of Innovation (CPI). 

International efforts focus on both under-graduate and post-graduate students, and take the 

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form of student, teaching and research staff mobility programmes, joint degrees, access to 

qualifications of international recognition, research programmes and specific development 

projects in America, Europe, Asia (China, Japan, etc.) and Oceania (Australia). 

The UPV has the largest offer of life-long education in the whole Spanish University system. 

Students can choose between the University´s own degrees (masters, university expert and 

professional expert degrees) and specific training courses addressed to the University 

community and at society in general. 

In this framework, the UPV has had and offers: 

1,439 courses offered 

82,453 students enrolled 

3,787 teachers involved 

120,000 teaching hours delivered 

Health system 

o 

Good health system for all citizens: 

Population coverage in the Primary Attention (OMS): 

96.9% 

Specialized Attention 

o Budget(2007): 5.089,96 millions € 

o Available beds in hospitals/100.000 inhabitants= 247 (*) 

* Source EUROSTAT 

Primary healthcare (WHO World Health Organization) in the Comunidad Valenciana is for free and 

covers the 96.9% of the population (as recorded in 2008). The Community is organized into 22 areas, 

where there are 252 health centers and 580 clinics. 

The total number of professionals specialized in the healthcare was 37,342 professionals on 

31/12/2008. The average number of functioning beds in all hospitals in the year 2008 was 9,372. 

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4.-Key features of the Economy & Industry 


The Valencian Region is a Mediterranean region, with a flourishing economy, a mild climate, a 

remarkable artistic heritage. It presents a dynamic economic development along the Mediterranean 

coast. Traditionally, it is opened to the outside world as a result of its considerable record in the export 

of manufacturing goods, fruit, and market of garden production. In conclusion, the Valencian economy 

is defined by its diversity. 

Listed below are the key features of the economy and industry: 

Global Regional GDP (2008) 

GDP (2008) Industrial Services Construction Agriculture 

105.54,21M€ 17,90% 68,20% 12,30% 2,10% 

45 The GDP of the Valencia region represents 9.7% of the total in Spain. 

Business structure in Valencian Region(2008) 

Nº enterprises x>1000 >1000 

376.093,00 93,80% 6,16% 

0,40% 

(49 companies) 

Export-Import Volume (2008) 

Export 19.361, 85 M€ 

Import 22.966,69 M€ 

Coverage rate 84,30% 

Sectorial Distribution of employment (2008) 

Agriculture Industry Construction Services 

3,45% 17,71% 11,48% 67,30% 

In 2008, 82,4% of the total population belonged to the working age polupation (i.e. older than or equal 

to 16 years), and about 2,226,200 inhabitants were employed. The employment rate in the year 2008 

was 53,7%. It was higher for men (63,0%) and lower for women (44.6 %). Both male and female activity 

rates increased between 1990 and 2006. In particular, the ‘90s recorded an increase in the rate of female 

activity, while the male activity rate raised higher again in 2008 (70.8% for male, and 51,6% for 

female). In 2008 the activity rate was 61.1%, while the unemployment rate was 12,1%. 

45 Instituto valenciano de estadística IVE. 

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The numbers employed in high-demand industries (electronic equipment and chemicals) and in medium-demand 

industries (vehicles and food) have risen over the recent years. 

The Castellón province has recorded the highest level of agricultural and industrial employment, with its 

industry oriented towards ceramics. In Alicante most of the secondary-sector jobs lie on the textile, 

leather and footwear trades. 

On the contrary, Valencia's industry is much more diversified. The region is characterized by a fairly 

high proportion of seasonal unemployment even today, due to a certain number of factors, including the 

fact that agriculture has specialized in a small range of crops, and that a different pattern of seasonal 

employment had developed in the tourist industry and in certain other industries including toys, icecream 

and traditional food. 

Employment is promoted through different lines of actions. The promotion of the Valencia Employment 

Service (Servicio Valenciano de Empleo (SERVEF)) is particularly significant for the development and 

execution of the region’s specific plan of action. 

Industry 46 

In 2008, the contribution of the sector to the region’s GDP was 17.4% (energy included), slightly higher 

than the share of the industrial sector on national level. The most important industrial sectors in the 

region are: 

o Non-metallic mineral product industries (ceramics), Food and drink, Transport equipment (automobiles, 

parts and accessories), Petroleum and chemical refineries, Textiles and clothing, Metallic 

products industries, Shoes and leather, Toys, renewable energies equipment, Wood and furniture, 

etc. 

o The total investment in the Comunidad Valenciana in the industrial sector was 1,190.32 million €. in 

2008. The volume of industrial exports was € 15,385.5 million and imports of € 20,546.0 million 

o International companies working in different sectors in the region, such as FORD, AIR NOSTRUM, 

CELESTICA, THYSSEN ROS CASARES, VOSSLOH, BAYER, AUTOLIV-BKI, BENTLER JIT, 

FERRO, PAMESA, PORCELANOSA, COLORROBIA, VENIS, KERABEN, FAMOSA, JOHNSON 

CONTROL AUTOMOTIVE, UBE, BP OIL, ALCOA, ARCELOR MITTAL, IBERDROLA 

RENOVABLES, SP BERNER PLASTIC, MERCADONA, FONTESTAD, MARTIN NAVARRO, 

SADA, HASBRO, MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY, SERVINTER TRANS FREIGHT, 

KRANNICH SOLAR, ATERSA, SILIKEN, etc. 

Valencian industrial structure is characterized by its great diversity. This is largely due to an indigenous 

industrialisation process, based on sectors with a strong artisan history: shoes, toys, textiles, furniture, 

tiles, ceramics etc. 

46 CES. Comité Económico y Social de la Comunidad Valenciana. www.ces.gva.es 

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The total investment in the Comunidad Valenciana in the industrial sector was € 1,190.32 million in 

2008. The volume of industrial exports was € 15,385.5 million and imports of € 20,546.0 million. 

o 

The industrial parks and technological institutes give an important supporting to the industrial sector, 

such Parc Sagunt, located near Sagunto’s Port (15 million square and it´s the main logistics 

centre in the Mediterranean). It gives life to a new concept of industrial park development (technological 

development, infrastructures, access to integrated services and helping business to take 

advantage from the synergies of the different activities carried out). 

The Innova 5 Paterna business park is another Valencian initiative that garantees competiveness 

for the Valencian industry. In working with business park, industrial park, technological institutes, infrastructures 

and services, it facilitates the internationalization and implementation of the strategies 

of the companies themselves. Furthermore, Valencian Region has similar industrial parks in Alicante 

and Castellón, that gives opportunities to the industrial sector and attracts investments. 

o 

Feria Valencia is the biggest and most modern exhibition centre in Spain, and one of the top ten in 

the world with 231,000 square metres of indoor exhibition space. Over the last year, Feria Valencia 

registered 1,300,000 visitors from all over the world, and more than 12,000 exhibitors took part to 

the event. The economic impact of Feria Valencia on its surrounding area is estimated at around 

700 to 800 million euros annually. 

Energy 47 

In addition to the traditional sources of energy, the region increasingly uses a multitude of sources to 

produce renewable energy, such as, among others: biomass based energy (electric and thermal ones), 

solar Photovoltaic energy, solar thermal energy, hydro-electric energy, wind energy and geothermal 

energy. The efforts of the region in pursuing a more sustainable energy policy, in increasing energy 

efficiency and in using more renewable energy are coordinated by the Valencian Agency of Energy 

(Agencia Valenciana de la Energía (AVEN)) and the DG Energy of the Regional Ministry of 

Infrastructure. 

With regard to air pollution, the rate of C02 emitted by Valencian Region is one of the lowest of the EU, 

and significantly lower than the Spanish National average 48 . 

By approving the Wind Energy Plan, the regional government has taken a decisive step in favour of an 

organised and sustainable development using renewable energy sources to generate electricity. The 

Wind Energy Plan is made up of 15 areas distributed in 67 wind farms. In February 2003 the 

administrative procedure began. It was forecasted that by 2013 the foreseen parks would be up and 

47 Source: Valencian Energy Agency (http://www.aven.es/informes/potencial_er_cv.html) 

48 Source: Balance energético de la Comunidad Valenciana, 2006 - 

http://www.aven.es/pdf/balance/datos_energeticos_2006.pdf 

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running. 

These wind farms are meant to: 

generate yearly around 5,500 gigawatts hour of electricity energy. 

avoide the emission of 2,1 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere 

allow the creation of an industrial infrastructure and promote energy plans, with a boost of the 

local economic activity. 

Agriculture 49 

Agriculture continues to play an important social role in the region, and is the basis for the economy of a 

large number of villages. It allows the maintenance of the population in much of the territory, where 

there are no efficient economic alternatives. Moreover, it si an essential part of the competitive sector of 

Spanish agriculture, with the Valencian traditional agriculture turning into a modern, intensive, irrigated 

and high quality agricultural production, thanks to an efficient system of managing water and land. 

It all depends on the increasing development of the research related with food technology and 

agrochemistry mainly carried out by technological institutes and universities, such IVIA, IATA, CSIC, 

etc. 

The most important agricultural products are as follows: 

o 

Citrus fruits (orange, tangerine and lemon), Vineyards and olive (grapes destined for transformation 

– juices, wine, olive oil), Vegetables (watermelon, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and artichokes). 

Other important data (2008) are: 

o The volume of exports was 3,350.3 million €, involving 77,700 people. 

o Investments in the sector were 131.9 million €. 

o Fisheries sector disposed of 664 ships with a capacity of 117,150 HP and with a capacity of 

18,305.76 GRT. 31,419,9 tons were captured with a market value of 104.16 million €. 

o A thriving business is aquaculture, i.e. fish farms, of which they set in 2008 of 31 facilities 

with a volume of 8,094.6 tons and a market value of € 32.8 million. 

Services 50 

This sector has experienced significant growth over the last few years, meaning that the Valencian 

economy can be considered a tertiary economy with a large industrial base. The services sector 

represented 68.2% GDP of Comunidad Valenciana in 2008, and recorded the 64.98% occupied 

population. The services sector comprises the following activities: 

49 CES. Comité Económico y Social de la Comunidad Valenciana. www.ces.gva.es 

50 Source: CES. Comité Económico y Social de la Comunidad Valenciana. www.ces.gva.es 

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Services to companies: about 450 companies specializing in providing services to other 

companies; major activities include technological and productive services, merchandising and 

marketing services, IT and data transmission services, corporate consulting services and 

operative services. 

Domestic trade 

Foreign trade: the Valencian Region is situated in an exceptional geographical position and as 

such, has connected it to the main trade routes in the Mediterranean, given its open economy 

and exporting tradition. Valencian exports represent around 10.3% of total Spanish ones and it 

represented 19.361,00 million € in 2008. 

Tourism (see more details in “Tourism & Sports” point). 

Transport, communications and logistics 

Financial system 

Total exports, in 2008, are broken down into a ratio of approximately 20.5% in the agricultural sector 

and the remaining 79.5% in the industrial sector. The most important industrial export products are 

transport materials (20.4 % of total exports), ceramics (11.8%), shoes (4.9%) and mechanical 

machinery (7.6%). As for agricultural exports, it exceeded 3,350.00 million € in 2008, making up 20.5% 

of total exports from the Comunidad Valenciana. 

These trade relations mainly concern European Union countries. In 2008, France was the main 

destination for Valencian sales, with 15.5% of total exports, followed by Germany, United Kingdom and 

Italy, countries that received a third of all the exports. In relation to imports, the Valencian region mainly 

receives goods from Chine, Germany and Italy, as well as Belgium and United Kingdom. 

Construction 51 

The percentage of participation of the costruction sector in the economic activity of the Comunidad 

Valenciana was 12.3% in 2008, higher than the whole Spanish percentage, that was 11.6%. 

The building official bid and the civil engineering had reached 3,038 million euros in 2008. 

The labour market in the construction sector employed, in 2008, a total of 324,500 people in the last 

quarter. The number of employed has fallen over the year to 259,900 employees. This situation means 

that the unemployment rate increased to 19.9% in the fourth quarter. 

51 Source: CES. Comité Económico y Social de la Comunidad Valenciana. www.ces.gva.es 

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Tourism & Sports 52 


Tourism is a significant sector in the Valencian region, producing around 12% of the region’s GDP, the 

greatest contribution to GDP of all the mainland autonomous regions. The total number of overnight 

stays in the Comunidad Valenciana exceeded 25 million in 2008. 

About 23 mill. of tourists visit the Valencian Region by year (17.3 mill are from Spain and 5,7 mill are 

foreigner tourists in 2008) 53 . 

The park hotel in the Valencia Region offers 121,160 beds available in hotels and other establishments 

(there are a total of 889 hotels and hostels, 109 campsites and 1.039 54 rural tourism establishments, 

providing excellent accommodation for the visitors arriving in the region). 

There´s a wide rangeof tourism offers: beach, business, trade and professional congresses, cultural 

(museums, music, heritage,..), leisure and thematic parks, rural tourism, environmental tourism (natural 

parks), gastronomy, traditional festivals (Tomatina, Fallas, Fogueres,etc) and sports and big events. 

Regarding the big sport events, the following can be mentioned: 

o The 32nd and 33rd America’s Cup in the region of Valencia; in 2007 the Region and the City of 

Valencia hosted the oldest nautical competition in the world (the 32nd America’s cup). The 33rd 

America’s Cup will also be held in Valencia in 2009. 

o Volvo Ocean Race - the port of Alicante will host the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2008/2009. 

o Formula 1 - Valencia has its Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, F1 Valencia Street Circuit Gran Premio 

de Europa de Formula 1 (since 2008). 

o World Superbike and MotoGP - since the inauguration (1999). 

o Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit hosts important motorsport events. 

o IAAF World Indoor Championships - the city of Valencia holds a great athletics tradition and is one 

of the leading Spanish cities in that respect. 

o Open Valencia ATP 500: since 2009 is in the Professional Tennis Circuit. 

52 Sources: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Agencia valenciana de turismo 

53 Exceltur-Conselleria Turisme. Impactur 2008 

54 Agència Valenciana del Turisme. Registro de Empresas y Actividades Turísticas (dic. 2008) 

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R & D and Innovation System 55 

The total internal cost in R & D in Comunidad Valenciana was 1,113.5 million €. in 2008. The split is 

134,116 for Public Administration, 494,743 for Universities and 484,648 for enterprises. 

The universities and the technological institutes of the region play a key role in R&D activities too; they 

all undertake research activities, but the intensity and quality of the research is certainly different for a 

department, subject and institution to another. 

These institutions are encouraged by the Valencian regional government through the Institute of 

Valencian SMEs - IMPIVA (Instituto de la Mediana y Pequeña Industria Valenciana) and by the 

Regional Ministry of Industry, Universities and Sciences. Their activity is complemented by a network of 

16 Technological Institutes – REDIT (La Red de Institutos Tecnológicos) that group together companies 

belonging to the most important sectors of the Valencian economy. These institutes are located in the 

areas where these sectors predominate, provide services to industry, develope laboratory tests, 

technological assessments, R+D projects, etc. This network currently has 13,000 client companies, 

9,100 of which are from the Valencia region. 

With regard to RTD, another network of major importance is the Network of Valencian Universities for 

Promotion of Research, Development and Innovation (Red de Universidades Valencianas para el fomento 

de la Investigación, el Desarrollo y la Innovación (RUVID)). 

The European Centres for Companies and Innovation (Centros Europeos de Empresas e Innovación 

(CEEI)) are the final infrastructures in the IMPIVA in supporting the development of the industrial fabric. 

Personnel employed in R & D were 31,775 in 2008. 

5.-Accessibility & transport Infrastructure 56 

The Valencian region has an excellent branch of networks on land, over sea and through air, which 

connect the region with the rest of the country and the world. 

Roads. The region has a network of local and national roads (there were 1,091 kilometres of 

motorways in the region in 2008) that link the area with itself and the rest of the mainland. 

The AP-7 Mediterranean motorway runs north to south providing easy connections to Catalonia 

region and France, 

the A-3 motorway to Madrid: good road connections to the rest of Spain:, 

the A-23 Valencia-Zaragoza and the A-31 dual carriageway from Alicante to Madrid. 

55 Source: Instituto valenciano de estadística. http://www.ive.es/ 

56 Sources: EUROSTAT, Valencian Community Investments http://www.invest-vci.com/en/cgibin/section.asp?sid=0402010300 

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Rail network. There are high-speed train links that connect Valencia with Barcelona and Madrid. The 

high-speed AVE train line has already begun that link Valencia with Madrid and Cuenca. 

Maritim traffic. The region plays an important role in maritime traffic as well, there are 5 main ports 

and 33 regional ports. Valencia’s port ranks first in Spain in terms of container traffic apart from 

being among the top ten European ports and top fifty world ports in container handling. 

Traffic volume in Valencia’s port has, yet again, beaten the all time record, both in terms of total 

figures and of container traffic. In 2008, 59.74 million tons were handled, and 76.13 millions 

tons in Comunidad Valenciana. Finally, the Port of Valencia has noticeably increased its activity 

as a destination for cruise ships, too. 

Valencia Port Authority has plans to enlarge the installations of Sagunto’s Port to the south, 

build a new basin and protected docks. This project, added to the creation of the new north 

access to the port of Valencia, namely the Superport project, will provide a joint Valencia- 

Sagunto platform. 

Another major port is the Port of Castellón, strategically located in the maximum activity area of 

the province, and serving – among other – ceramics industry, the most important sector of the 

Castellón area. 

Further important ports in the region are the ports of Gandía, Denia and Alicante. 

Air traffic of the region is rapidly increasing. There are 3 international airports: Castellón, Valencia 

and Alicante. Valencia airport host 5,767,468 passengers, the Alicante airport records 9,562,068 

passengers. The commercial airport traffic in the Comunidad Valenciana was 19,292.38 tons, 

including a significant level of international traffic from European Union countries, most of the 

passengers coming from the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France (5,767,468 passengers in 

2008). Even the Alicante airport plays an important role in receiving tourists (9,562,068 passengers 

in 2008). The commercial airport traffic in the Comunidad Valenciana was 19,292.38 tons in 2008. 

6.-Level of Territory Governance 

Valencia region is NUTS II level region and is an administrative region. This means that it has their own 

elected Parliament, Constitution and budget, with wide competences. There are 3 provinces and 542 

municipalities. 

7.-Territory & Environment 

In the last ten years, Protected Areas have been increased by 300% with 22 natural parks and three 

protected natural marines, that have unique species of Mediterranean flora and fauna. Valencia Region 

has a total of 39 LICs (Sites of Community Importance); spaces that can be grouped in four sections: 

mountain sectors, wet zones, riverbanks and seashores. 

The Integral Waste Management Plan is the basic tool for planning, controlling, coordinating and 

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rationalizing all the activities related to waste, generated or managed by the Valencia Region, according 

to the European Union prescriptions. 

The region government makes an important researching effort in the study of alternative, non 

conventional means for obtaining water in prevision of drought periods, such as wastewater treatments, 

desalinization or exploitation of deep groundwater, as well as the development of tools and strategies 

for conjunctive management and water saving that allow to optimize the water resources management. 

Such tools are based on the use of water transfers for optimizing the water surpluses among basins. 

The Regional Government has developed other important actions related to improve the water 

management through the reuse of wastewater for industry, agriculture, urban gardening, street 

cleaning, and modernization of irrigation system. More actions are related to the environmental 

restoration; improving wetlands, reconditioning shorelines and habitats, and improving general water 

quality. In particular, the following actions have been implemented: 

Regional competences on irrigation, distribution, sanitation and quality of coastal water. 

Municipal competences on urban water. Several actions planned by the different 

Administrations. 

Basic Objetives at Regional Level in Water: It guarantees the water supply in quantity & quality 

for present & future needs. It protects the quality of water & the aquatic ecosystems associated 

to rivers and wetlands. It promotes sustainability in the use of water, environmental & financial 

actions giving with priority to the management services. It minimizes the risks of extreme 

situations, drought & floods. 

The Master Sanitation Plan was executed during the years 1993-2000 and 2001-2008, with an 

investment respectively of 533 M€ and 1,054 M€. It represented the construction or redesigning 

of the 300 Waste Water Threatment Plants (WWTP) in towns with more than 500 inhab.. 

An amount of 503 hm3 of sewage waters were treated in the Region of Valencia in 2009. In the 

same year, an amount of 308,8 hm3 (61,4%) of sewage waters was treated, recycled and 

regenerated, and the 98,8% out of 500,000 tons of sewage sludge were re-used. The WWTP 

covered a regional population rate of 99,98%. 

Nowadays, the Region of Valencia is one of the most advanced region in Europe with 

reutilization infrastructure, with 35 big WWTP with capacity for 368 hm3/year with 3 rd level or 

advance treatment. It recordes 1,500 Km among repaired irrigation ditch and pipelines, more 

that 5,000 Km of pressured pipelines, 17 desalinization plants with a production of 20 hm3/y., 

13 WWTP with biogas recovery with a production higher than 23.Mill Kwh, and 1 WWTP with 

PV Solar Energy Production, 167.093 Kwh in 2009. 

The Territorial Strategy of the Comunidad Valenciana is defined in the DECRETO 1/2011, de 13 

de enero, del Consell, por el que se aprueba la Estrategia Territorial de la Comunitat 

Valenciana. It foreseen 25 main objetives and 100 targets. 

The Strategy to prevent Climate Change in the Comunidad Valenciana is defined in the 

Estrategia Valenciana ante el Cambio Climático 2008-2012. 125 medidas para la mitigación y 

adaptación al cambio climático, which foreseens 125 actions. 

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8.- Key development challenges for Comunidad Valenciana 

The economy of the Comunidad Valenciana grows at a good rate; the region has lot of potential and 

offers a very good quality of life. It attracts numerous people (not only as tourists, but also as new 

residents) from all over Europe. 

To foster economic development, the Region follows a very successful model that has constantly 

produced major results in the recent years. It has the most advanced institutional structures of the four 

partner regions, with a well-functioning and cooperating network of agencies in various fields. The 

region has an innovative and competitive economy, backed by an advanced R&D infrastructure and an 

array of such services, that encourage SMEs to look for new opportunities also beyond the boundaries 

of the region. The protection of the environment and of the natural values, as well as the increasing of 

the energy efficiency, through the use of renewable energy, are all crucial issues for the regional 

government. In these sectors, important results are produced, as a matter of facts, the use of renewable 

energy is constantly increasing and Valencia plays a leading role in the production of wind and solar 

energy. The region has successfully tackled most of its past challenges; many of the solutions that have 

been implemented can now be considered good practices, suitable for being adapted elsewhere. 

The measures that have been delivered both to increase energy efficiency and to use renewable 

sources of energy, have allowed the Comunidad Valenciana to become one of the leading regions in 

Europe with regard to the use of renewable energy. As concerning the air quality of the region, the 

results are very significative; the CO2 percetage emitted by Valencian Region is one of the lowest of the 

EU (5,17 tCO2/inhabitant per year); it is significantly lower than the Spanish National average (7,91 

tCO2/inhabitant year). 

In spite of the promising signs and successes, though, Valencia certainly still has a number of 

challenges that needs to be faced. With a steady increase of population and a developing economy, 

sustainable transport is an area where further steps are needed. 

Water is a valuable resource in the region; its quantity and availability used to change over the year; in 

certain periods it only was available in very limited quantity, while in other periods it was excessive, and 

created problems. This challenge has required a long-term, integrated solution and a sustainable 

management in using this scarce resource and avoiding temporary water shortage in the region. Now 

an effective regulation system has been implemented, and water management is constantly improving 

thanks to the reuse of wastewater restoring water resources in wastewater treatment plants and water 

transfers. Moreover, the region is developing important activities related to environmental restoration of 

wetlands, reconditioning shorelines and habitats, and general water quality. Even though a lot has been 

done and achieved, and the necessary solutions and facilities are now in an advanced phase of 

development, this sector requires constant attention. 

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Finally, ageing population is becoming an increasing market segment; on one side the ageing 

population is growing, on the other it offers opportunities for various businesses in expanding their 

activities in the production of special products and services. In this terms, the increasing phenomenon is 

considered another challenge for the region. 

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CHAPTER 1.4 

LATVIA 


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1. Key Regional Data: 

o Area: 64 559 km2 

o Population: 2,23 milj. 

o Urban areas: 1,53 milj. (67,8%) 

o Rural municipalities: 0,73% (32,2%) 

o Population Density: 34,62 capita/km2 

o GDP (2009): 18 473 milj. EUR 

o GDP / Capita (2009): 8192 EUR 

o Employment Rate (2009): 60% 

o Activity Rate (2009): 73,9% 

o Unemployment Rate (December, 2010): 14,3% 

2. Location & Geography 

Latvia is the central country of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). On the world map Latvia 

is to be found in North-eastern Europe, on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Latvia borders also on 

Russia and Belarus. The border length is 1,862 km, the length of Latvia's Baltic coastline is 494 km. 

The landscape of the country is marked by lowland plains and rolling hills. Most of the countryside is 

less than 100 metres above sea level. The highest point is 311.6 metres. There are thousands of rivers 

and lakes in Latvia. 

The country cosists out of five regions: Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, Latgale and Riga region. 

3. Education and Health System 

Education 

The state guarantees free primary and secondary (high school) education. More than 90% of children 

attend state schools which provide free education. 9 years of primary education are obligatory. The 

most of the students attend state-universities. Apart from state-financed educational institutions, there 

are also private schools and private universities in Latvia. Latvia also has state-financed ethnic minority 

schools or classes where courses are presented in Belorussian, Estonian, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Polish, 

Roma, Russian and Ukrainian. 

Latvia is not richly endowed with natural resources, so its future is dependent in very large measure on 

intellect, which may be regarded as the nation's greatest resource. 

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Main indicators of education system in Latvia (2009) 

Financing of Higher Education 

Number of Universities: 

State 

Private 

Branches of Foreign Universities 

Number of Vocational Schools: 

State 

Private 

1,5% of GDP 

Number of Students 112 555 

Number of students per 10 000 inhabitants 492 

Number of R&D personal in universities 2762 

Proportion of professors in universities 25% 

Number of students in Doctorant Programmes 2152 

31 

18 

13 

2 

26 

18 

8 

Regarding the higher education although the quantitative indicators, e.g., number of students, 

professors etc. are above the EU average the quality of education has a potential to be improved. Main 

challenges of education system in Latvia are low wages of teaching staff, brain drain (many teachers, 

professors and scientists are leaving to other European countries, USA etc.), educational system is not 

sufficiently flexible in responding to the needs of labour market (there are no appropriate supply of 

specialists in such fields as engineering, chemistry etc.). 

At the same time the higher education of Latvia has a good base and intellectual potential for scientist 

research and ensuring high level specialist. These centres will have a possibility to adapt notable EU 

fund resources. 

There are planned several reforms within vocational schools because most of them can’t ensure 

specialists required by the current labour market. It is planned to reduce almost 50% of them and to 

create new programmes providing good specialists. Consequently these schools will be able to attract 

more EU funds financing, hereby there is a good potential for partnerships in the framework of EU 

programmes. 

Health care 

The health care sector in Latvia is smaller as a share of GDP than the sector in EU, representing 3.4% 

of GDP (2010), less than the European average of 6.3%. 

Latvia is the European Union member with the largest share of out-of-pocket expenditure after Cyprus, 

with households funding 29% of healthcare services costs compared to 10% for EU-27. Latvian 

government covers 68% while EU governments cover 82%. The rest is covered by private sector such 

as insurance companies and employers. 

In Latvia, compared to EU-27, healthcare services expenditures are more concentrated in 

hospitals (59%) and less in nursing and residential care facilities (4%). Providers of ambulatory 

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healthcare account for 37% of expenditures in Latvia. 

There are many opportunities for growth in healthcare in Latvia mainly because of the relatively low 

expenditure compared with the average of the European Union. The main subsectors for growth: 

nursing and residential care which currently is very small in Latvia; medical centres focusing on 

medical tourism. 

4. Key features of the Economy Industry 

Main economic sectors are: 

o Services (69.3% of GDP in 2009): logistics, IT, financial, trade. 

o Manufacturing (8,7% of GDP in 2009): wood, metal, textile, chemicals, pharmaceutical. 

Foreign trade: 

o Export: wood products, metal, chemicals, mechanical appliances, food (Picture 1). 

o Import: mineral products, equipment, vehicles (Picture 2). 

Main trade counterparts: 

o Export: EU (Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Sweden), Russia 

o Import: ES (Lithuania, Germany, Estonia, Poland), Russia 

Vehicles; 7,1 

Minerals; 5,6 

Machinery; 14,1 

Chemical, 

plastics; 11,4 

Main Commodity Groups for Export 

(%, in current FOB prices) 

Other; 8,6 

Wood and w ood 

products; 16,5 

Agricultur and 

food; 18,6 

Metal; 12,4 

Light industry; 

5,7 

Main groups of Commodities of Latvian Import 

(%, in current CIF prices) 

Wood and 

Other; 9,7 w ood products; 

Light industry; 

1,4 Metal; 8,1 

Vehicles; 6,5 

6,3 

Agricultur and 

Minerals; 17,2 

food; 18,2 

Machinery; 15,7 

Chemical, 

plastics; 16,9 

Wood 

The forest sector has convincingly demonstrated its strategic importance to Latvia’s national economy. 

Of all the companies registered in Latvia, 8% are linked to the forest sector, which employs 

around 5% of the labour force. The forest sector’s share is 5% of GDP. About 70% of forest sector 

output is exported. 

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Key sector advantages: 

o availability of vast domestic and imported wood resources 

o skilled labour force in a historically traditional industry 

o established timber-processing sector including proven R&D capability 

In Latvia, the wood processing sector is the largest manufacturing sector in added value. It has been 

experiencing very high growth in added value although it has declined in employment, with a large gain 

in productivity. However, the crisis in 2008 has hit the sector strongly and it experienced a 26.3% 

decline in value added, mainly in wood and wood products and in furniture. 

Besides being the most specialized in the sector of all European Union countries, Latvia is in the top 

countries in terms of investment rates and labour competitiveness in all subsectors which has enabled it 

to grow consistently. In terms of subsectors, Latvia is heavily specialized in wood and wood products 

and among them in the least processed products: sawn wood. The subsectors and product types with 

the largest growth have been builders’ carpentry, wooden containers, other wood products and 

printing. 

In addition, Latvia is well developed in wood energy and has enough raw material from the sawmills to 

grow strongly in this subsector. The wood energy subsector is very developed in Latvia. Despite being a 

relative small country, it is the 7th country in European Union in terms of pellets production capacity, 

even though there is little local demand for it. Unlike pellets, wood biomass is widely used for energy, 

especially for heating purposes, and it is the main source of renewable energy in Latvia. 

Textile 

Today, the textile sector is an important part of Latvian industry and combines the best of traditional 

knowhow with industrial and technological knowledge. This expertise has lead to the creation of high 

value-added products such as silver and amber threads and other innovative technologies. The 

industry is highly export-oriented, particularly the lingerie segment. 

The main textile industry sub-sectors are lingerie manufacturing, sewing, weaving, technical textile 

manufacturing and artisan textile production. The industry is dominated by sewing companies 

acting as outsourced production for EU brands. This is convenient as production and delivery times are 

short and technical capabilities are advanced – starting from embroidery, ending with laser cutting and 

waterproof-garment production. These sewing companies provide customized services, including 

pattern and other design services. However, there are also a number of local small and medium 

companies who are working on their own jersey, knitwear and other material collections, bringing 

forward the idea of natural and ecological clothing. 

While home textiles from linen, such as tablecloths and curtains are very popular among the local 

population, the most exclusive linen items such as accessories and shawls are being highly appreciated 

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by international brands who have been introducing these items into their collections for many years. 

The industry is also supported by several education institutions: the Riga School of Arts and Crafts, 

Latvian Academy of Arts and the Textiles Faculty of Riga Technical University, as well as the Light 

Industry Technical School and other vocational education institutions. 

Cooperation opportunities: 

o Numerous Latvian companies are seeking partners for sub-contracting activities in the sewing subsector. 

o Lingerie manufacturers are looking for distribution partners, sales representatives and agents. 

The sector has seen significant investment in Technologies and equipment, especially in the period 

2000-2007. Textile and garment companies continuously update and replace their equipment in 

order to be productive, cost-efficient and thereby competitive. FDI stock at end of 2009 in the textile 

industry reached EUR 15.9 million. 

Energy 

Latvia stands among those countries that are dependent from imported energy resources (Picture 3). 

The most significant utilized local energy sources are wood and hydro energy (Daugava HPP cascade). 

Solid fuel, oil products and electrical energy are imported from several countries and supply regions but 

for natural gas there is only one supplier – Russia. The split of energy flows shows the relatively high 

dependence from energy import – only 29.6% of total energy consumption is covered by local 

energy resources. In the same time Latvia has one of the highest share of renewable energy in 

the EU, due mainly to the significant role of hydropower resources and the large amount of biomass 

used in the residential sector. It has significant forest resources, which contribute to it being a net 

exporter of biomass for energy. 

Electricity Supply is dominated 

by state JSC “Latvenergo” that 

generates more than 88% of all 

electricity generated in Latvia and 

ensures the importation of 

electricity, its distribution and 

supply to consumers. 

At present, JSC “Latvijas Gāze” is the only merchant in the natural gas market in Latvia. In compliance 

with licenses issued by the Public Utilities Commission, JSC “Latvijas Gāze” carries out the 

transmission, distribution, storage and sale of natural gas. Approximately 70 companies compete in the 

supply of liquefied petroleum gas. 

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The largest heat energy consumer in Latvia is the household sector, which makes up 74% of the 

total heat energy demand. The following primary resources are used for heat energy production in 

Latvia: natural gas, oil products (oil, heavy fuel oil, liquid fuel oil), coal, shale oil, peat, wood. 

Latvia has a very good potential for wind energy development alongside the Baltic Sea coastline, 

especially because a high voltage transmission line runs along the coastline. Suitable sites for wind 

energy plants are the west coast and the eastern part of the Gulf of Rīga (nearby Ainaži). The main 

wind park in Latvia is installed in Grobiņa, on the west coast close to Liepāja (220 km to the West from 

Rīga). There are up to 50 private wind farms in the country that produce electricity for their own or 

public needs in small amounts. Wind energy potential depends on wind availability in the country. 

Several research studies show that there are three most favourable regions in Latvia for wind farms: 10- 

30km wide breeze zone - Kurzeme highlands with elevation of 80 meters and more, Ainažu breeze 

region with 15km zone from the seashore. 

Solar energy - Solar radiation level in Latvia has similar values as in other northern European 

countries, for example Denmark. However the use of solar energy in Latvia hasn’t been so popular and 

only few projects have been implemented within the framework of different bilateral programmes. 

Biomass is the most important source of renewable energy so far. Wood fuel or solid biomass, in 

particular in the form of wood, is the main renewable energy source available in Latvia together with 

hydro energy resources. Biofuels, biogas and straw are less widespread and less used. Wood is 

actively used for heat production in district heating and separate boiler houses. More than 50% of 

existing biomass resources are exported to European and other countries. 

There are several biogas stations in Latvia. One of them is a CHP located in Rīga that belongs to the 

wastewater treatment company “Rīgas ūdens” and produces energy from wastewater sludge, two of 

cogeneration plants produce energy from landfill gas and are located in Rīga and Liepāja. The first 

agricultural biogas plant has established in Vecauce, a student research village of Latvia Agricultural 

University. 

There are 2 bioethanol production plants, 5 biodiesel plants and 7 rapeseed oil production plants 

operating in Latvia. There are 6 new biofuel production plants in process. 

There is a great potential for increasing use of renewable energy resources in Latvia. 

Diversification of energy sources, utilization of local renewable resources and promotion of energy 

efficiency will boost energy independency of Latvia. 

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Agriculture 

Agriculture is one of major industries of the national economy, 4.3% of employed and 1.3% is the 

share of agriculture and hunting in GDP. Agriculture and food products are 18.6% of export. 

Subject to soil peculiarities, all territory of Latvia is suitable for grain cultivation, yet the highest or 

close to the highest yields per ha are obtained in Zemgale region. Nevertheless, in each region it is 

possible to choose the variety/species of grain which can be successfully grown in the particular climate 

and soil areas. Grain production is the main crop farming sector in Latvia. 

Dairy sector is one of the basic agri-food sectors in Latvia with long traditions both in dairy farming 

and milk processing. Milk production traditionally has been one of the main agricultural sectors in Latvia 

with increasing importance in recent years. In Latvia, milk is produced by about 40 thsd. farms, which 

are entirely private-owned. Only a small part of milk producing farms are enterprises, the majority of 

farms are family farms. During recent years, Latvian dairy-farming has demonstrated growth trends, 

caused by both concentration and restructuring of production of milk and dairy products. This, in turn, 

enables investment, higher production volumes and productivity. 

The main distribution channels of dairy products include shops, wholesalers and the distribution 

network of retail chains. About 25% of the dairy production is sold to foreign customers, which 

mostly include wholesalers and industrial consumers. 

The main objective of Latvia's meat producing sectors is stabilisation of the sector and promoting 

market competitiveness of the products by using of a high quality genetic breeding material and 

decreasing production costs. Meat production has become the main trend of sheep-breeding sector. 

The objective of the sheep-breeding and goat-breeding sector is to preserve the genetic variety, create 

of high quality flocks and develop processing and sales of their products. Structural changes are still 

taking place in the pig breeding sector, concentrating production in the largest farms. 

The aim of meat production is to provide the domestic market with quality meat and manufacture 

competitive products as well as to promote manufacture of meat products for exports. In order to 

achieve these objectives, it is necessary to increase the production by creating a value added for 

agricultural products, promoting processing and technology development. 

Tourism 

The tourism sector has a significant role in the national economy of Latvia. According to the tourism 

satellite account calculations of the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB), the share of tourism-specific 

sectors in the total value added has gradually grown – from 5.9% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2007. 

The tourism sector is a significant source of export income, which gives considerable contribution to 

national gross domestic product. According to the CSB satellite account calculations, the share of 

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incoming tourism consumption within goods and services exports in 2007 was 10%, while in 2004 it was 

8.9%. 

In 2009, the number of border crossings of foreign tourists reached 4.7 million, which is by 14.5% less 

than in 2008 (5.5 million). The average duration of tourist visits in Latvia is 1.3 days, but average 

expenditures per day rose to LVL 56. Along with the decrease in the number of border crossings of 

tourists, the total number of foreign tourists’ expenditures in Latvia decreased, reaching LVL 344.1 

million in 2009, which in comparison with 2008 (LVL 403.2 million) is by 14.7% less. 

Although, taking into account the negative balance in outgoing tourism, the tourism balance of 

payments has been improving, its indicators were still negative – expenditures of Latvian residents 

abroad in 2009 exceeded the expenditures of foreign tourists in Latvia by LVL 64.3 million. 

There were 559 tourism accommodations in Latvia in 2009. 

Main tourism sectors in Latvia: 

Latvia offers green, wild nature, rich historical and culture heritage, exciting towns, military objects. Riga 

and its historically older part the Old Riga is famous with its museums, art galleries, opera and theatres. 

Latvia does not end with Riga. Latvia is divided into four cultural-historical regions, each differing with its 

own special aura: Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale. 

Ecotourism traditions in Latvia are comparatively new and still in formation. Nevertheless, Latvia as an 

ecotourism destination is interesting and fascinating: Latvia has a comparatively untouched nature, a 

multicultural society and authentic cultural environment in the countryside. 

There are many options available for green tourism from simple walks in the woods to special 

offerings for bird-watchers, hunters and friends and connoisseurs of nature. 

Latvia offers a rich cultural life. The high quality of dramatic theatre, opera and ballet productions in 

Latvia can be explained by the educated audiences. Many opera and ballet performers from the 

Latvian National Opera are now widely recognized around the world, and now they delight audiences in 

the most famous opera and ballet houses on the planet. 

Connoisseurs of classical music in Latvia are spoiled every year with outstanding cultural events: every 

summer two large opera festivals take place in Latvia. They bring to the stage soloists from the 

Latvian National Opera as well as musicians who now represent world-famous opera houses, but 

began their careers in Riga, and notable guest artists. 

The Latvian New Theatre Institute organises international theatre festivals and master classes that 

are well attended, as they bring world-famous playwrights, directors and choreographers to Riga. The 

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Baltic International Ballet Festival, traditionally held in April, also enjoys high esteem. For one week in 

2010, all imaginable trends in global ballet and dance arts, great appearances and heartfelt applause 

could be experienced for the fifteenth time in Riga. 

One of the main events in cultural life of Latvia is Cēsis Art festival which program featuring a diverse 

range of art forms included classical music concerts, visual art exhibitions, opera and drama 

performances which reflected on the most significant events in each genre over the past year. The 

festival aims to transform Cesis into a centre of active cultural life for the inhabitants of Cesis and the 

region, as well as to offer high quality arts events of local and international renown for the residents and 

foreign visitors 

R&D and Innovation System 

In Latvia the total funding for research and development (R&D) in 2008 was 0.61% of GDP, in 2010 – 

0.6% of GDP. Target for 2015 is 1,0% of GDP. There are 19,6% innovative companies in Latvia (the 

target for 2013 is 24%) – most of them are very small companies. World class specialists work in 

materials science, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, ICT, and other fields. Consumer driven 

innovation is essential taking into account the limited resources. 

100% 

75% 

50% 

29,0% 

29,5% 

31,8% 

18,5% 

35,7% 

21,6% 

20,2% 

33,5% 

22,5% 

46,3% 

18,4% 

34,4% 

7,5% 

52,7% 

12,7% 

36,4% 

23,1% 

27,0% 

25% 

41,4% 

49,8% 

42,7% 

46,3% 

31,2% 

46,0% 

38,2% 

49,9% 

47,3% 

0% 

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

Total state funding For R&D Total enterprise funding for R&D 

Total HE funding for R&D 

Total funding for R&D by abroad 

Picture 6. R&D Intensity: % Share of Gross Domestic Expenditure (GERD) 

Latvia’s challenge is developing of investments to regions accordingly to their economic perspectives 

and priorities thereby contributing balanced territorial strengthening and competitiveness. 

So far the national innovation strengths of Latvia have been based on its strong tradition and R&D 

potential in a range of research fields, well-educated people. The major innovation challenges 

for Latvia: 

o the need of enhancing the innovative capacities of the enterprise sector; 

o ensuring sufficient supply of science and engineering workforce; 

o facilitating innovative activities in the regions. 

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Innovation governance and policy trends 


The responsibility for developing and promoting R&D and innovation policy in Latvia is divided between 

several main institutions. R&D-related issues are mainly dealt with at the Department of Science, 

Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Science, while the Ministry of Economics 

with its Innovation division holds the overall responsibility for elaboration and implementation of 

innovation policy. On an operational level, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency is 

administrating a range of state aid programmes for entrepreneurship and innovation promotion (Picture 

7). The Latvian Guarantee Agency and the Mortgage Bank of Latvia are two additional state institutions 

operational in this field. 

Picture 7. R&D and innovation governance in Latvia 

Not withstanding the current economic downturn of Latvia, work on the development of the national 

innovation system is being carried on. Promotion of innovation and exports is put forward as a basis for 

overcoming the crisis. Some of the potential measures identified for implementation in the nearest 

future include (c.f. Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia until 2030, revised draft): 

o implementation of a cluster development programme; 

o introduction of an open innovation practice; 

o application of innovation vouchers; 

o elaboration of an innovation procurement programme; 

o establishment of an innovative research development fund; 

o utilisation of the material and technical basis of research in entrepreneurship; 

o enhancing motivation of scientists for engaging in business activities; 

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o strengthening the international competitiveness of research institutions; and promotion of mass 

innovation culture. 

Information and communication technologies 

The share of ICT sector in the GDP reached 4.2% in 2008. In 2008, 3078 companies operated in the 

ICT sector in Latvia, employing 24 947 persons (0.7% of total employment). 

Just like in EU-27, the Latvian IT sector is dominated by services which represent 93% of total value 

added. 

Latvia’s most important areas: software development, information systems maintenance, IT testing 

and hardware maintenance and repair. In particular, Latvia is strong in ERP systems, financial 

management system, solutions for sawmills, Eplatform implementation, E-government, electronic 

reporting systems, bureau statistics and pension management systems. 

Latvia has potential to grow in this subsector thanks to its expertise in IT, its geographic location and 

knowledge of the Russian language and its low cost of electricity, the lowest in EU, very important in 

energy intensive services like datacenters. 

Electronic services 

The internet portal www.latvija.lv is a single contact point for the services of the state and local 

governments in Latvia. Since December 28, 2009, entrepreneurs can access electronically to 78 

services provided by the public institutions. In total, information about more than 1300 services is 

available in the public services catalogue. Since June 2010, it is possible to register an enterprise in the 

Register of Enterprises electronically. 

Since June 1, 2009, the Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Regional Development is 

responsible for the implementation of electronic government. 

e-Governance 

Since August 2008, the State Regional Development Agency (SRDA) is providing development and 

maintenance of the Joint Information System for Municipalities (JISM). The main task of the JISM is to 

provide technological support to municipalities of Latvia for accessing their services electronically by 

creating a joint data accounting and exchange systems that are compatible. The JISM is being created 

since 2000, and currently it provides not only such municipal functions as registration of the population, 

registration of the real estate, gathering and storing data of the registry offices and social service 

providers but also data exchange with Population Register, Real Estate State Cadastre Information 

System, State Address Register, Vehicle and Drivers’ State Register. Such an exchange of data gives 

an opportunity to decrease circulation of paper documents, and accelerate the administrative process; 

thus the possibility to receive the necessary municipal service is significantly accelerated. 

The JISM is used by more than 120 local municipalities every day, and this number is constantly increasing. 

The functionality of the JISM is constantly being expanded and improved in respect to the 

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legal acts, policy planning documents and municipalities’ requirements. The software of the JSIM is 

accessible to every municipality of Latvia. 

The SRDA in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development is 

developing a territory planning information system (TIS). The TIS will provide centralized circulation of 

the territorial planning documents as well as the support to the territory planning development and harmonisation. 

The TIS will be accessible to every municipality in Latvia. 

e-Procurement 

Since June 1, 2009 the SRDA organizes and manages the Electronic Procurement System. 

The Latvian Electronic Procurement System is the first e-procurement system in the Baltic States, which 

provides to its users various possibilities. 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Faster procurement process – shortened time from acknowledging the need till purchase of the 

good; 

State and municipal institutions do not have to organize procurements – procurements are 

organized unitary by ordering the goods with the help of the Electronic Procurement System; 

State budget resources are saved because when several orders are combined small procurements 

are offered better prices; 

Transparency, openness and accessibility to information about the procurement process increases 

– information about the procurements are public in the Electronic Procurement System; 

The procurement provided in the directives of the European Commission is being executed in 

Latvia as well as the positive examples of the EU countries. 

The type of products currently proposed for buyers in the Latvian e-catalogue system and turnover: 

5% 

2% 

3% 

2% 0% 

Medical products. 

Computer hardware 

7% 

Printing equipment accessories 

42% 

Medical remedies 

9% 

Household goods 

Office paper 

Stationery 

Photocopiers 

15% 

Office equipment 

15% 

Office furniture 

Picture 8. Structure of products in e-cataloge 

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5. Accessibility & transport Infrastructure 


The sector plays a key role in the Latvian economy - 6.5% of GDP. Latvia ranks second in Europe in 

share of GDP of the sector, much higher than the 3.8% for the European Union. 

The largest subsectors in Latvia are land transport and transport via pipeline and warehousing and 

cargo activities that represent 59% and 31% of added value in the sector, respectively. 10% of value 

added comes from air transport and the rest from postal and courier services and water transport. 

Inland freight transport in Latvia is not as focused in road transport as in EU-27. While in EU-27 road 

transport represents 73% share of inland freight followed by railways with 17%, in Latvia the largest 

type of transport is railways with 52% followed by road with 38%. 

Freight by railway in Latvia is very important due to the importance of the two main railway lines: the 

one that connects its ports to Moscow and the one that connects Latvia with Estonia and St. Petersburg 

to the north and Lithuania and Central Europe to the South. Both are in the top 5 lines in the European 

Union in terms of freight and will continue to grow, especially the second one. The most important 

railway lines from the sea to reach Russia are Riga-Moscow and Finland-Moscow. This is a key asset to 

take advantage of trade volume increases between Russia/CIS and EU-27. 

In terms of shipping ports, Latvia has the largest freight traffic in the northern Baltic with 3 ice free 

ports - Ventspils, Riga, and Liepaja and seven minor ports. The three major ports have been accorded 

favourable incentive schemes to help attract new business (80-100% relief on direct taxes and 

significant discounts on indirect taxes (VAT, Excise)). Ventspils and Riga Ports are Free Ports whereas 

the entire city and port of Liepaja comprise a Special Economic Zone. 

Latvia, in land transport, is one of the countries with the highest investment rates in Europe and the one 

with the most competitive labor force of all European Union countries. There are many opportunities to 

grow in transport in Latvia given its good access to ports and railways to Russia and its high labor 

competitiveness. Besides railway and ports, Latvia has potential to grow in road freight by investing in 

better infrastructure and in air transport for both passenger and freight. 

Among several airports operating in Latvia RIGA International Airport is the biggest one and is one of 

the fastest growing travel hubs in Europe. It is situated within a 7 minutes drive from Riga, the capital of 

Latvia. There are smaller airports in Liepaja, Ventspils and Daugavpils. RIGA International Airport is the 

largest international aviation company in the Baltic’s and the main air traffic centre in this region offering 

regular passenger, cargo and postal delivery to the cities of Europe and world. From the RIGA 

International Airport it is possible to go to 82 destinations. In 2010 RIGA International Airport attended 

4.6 million passengers, which is 14 percent more than in 2008. 

In general Latvia has a good contactability in Western and Southern peripheries but low - in Eastern 

Europe. 

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6. Level of Territory Governance 

In compliance with the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated areas since July 1, 2009 in Latvia 

there are 119 administrative territories – 9 republican cities and 110 novads (municipalities) that are 

governed by local governments within the framework of their competencies. Thus, after the implementation 

of the administrative territorial reform in Latvia there are 119 local governments – local governments 

of cities and novads. 

Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Regional Development is the leading public 

administration institution in areas of state and regional development planning and coordination, local 

government development, spatial planning, state investments and land policy. 

The most important tasks of local governments are to provide residents with utility services, ensure 

improvement and sanitary hygiene of the administrative territory, as well as education for residents, to 

maintain culture and promote the preservation of traditional cultural values and development of people's 

creative work. Local governments 

ensure the availability of health care 

services and facilitate healthy way of 

life for residents, provide social 

assistance, help residents to solve 

housing-related issues, promote 

entrepreneurship, maintain reduction 

in unemployment and keep public 

order, determine the procedure of 

land use and building and organise 

public transport services. 

The population in Latvia was 2 254 653 at the beginning of 2010 and the average number of residents 

in a local government about 19.1 thousand which exceeds the average in the European Union. 

To ensure planning of regional development, coordination and cooperation among the local 

governments, five planning regions have been established in Latvia – Riga, Vidzeme, Kurzeme, 

Zemgale and Latgale. 

7. Territory & Environment 

The forests dominate in the land use (46 %), followed by agricultural land (37%) and urban areas and 

infrastructure (10 %). There is a great diversity of ecosystems with their natural structures, as well as a 

diversity of local wild species, agricultural crops and breeding stock. 

Latvia is one of Europe’s best preserved havens for a wide variety of wildlife. Over 27 thousand species 

of flora and fauna thrive in natural settings that are still relatively undisturbed by man. Currently, 

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approximately 200 farms, occupying 2,750 ha, are engaged in ecologically pure farming (i.e., using no 

artificial fertilisers or pesticides). 

Water 

In respect to surface and ground water resources per capita, Latvia can be compared to countries like 

Russia, Canada and Sweden that are the richest in water resources in the world. There are more than 

12,000 rivers and nearly 4,000 lakes and reservoirs in Latvia covering 3.7 % of the country’s territory in 

total. Nevertheless, more than 55 % of the volume of water flowing into the Gulf of Riga or directly into 

the Baltic Sea through the territory of Latvia originates outside our state borders, and Latvia can only 

partially affect the protection of its quality, control of its pollution, monitoring and provision of relevant 

information to Latvia and other countries. Therefore our country is characterized by the greatest 

transboundary effects and risks in the ecoregion of the Baltic Sea in relation to the quality of surface 

waters (less ground waters). 

Latvia has 477 mechanical, 956 biological and 6 chemical wastewater treatment plants. There are no 

atomic power plants in Latvia. 

One of the greatest assets of Latvian subterranean depths is the large fresh water resources ensuring 

the drinking water supply. The possibilities of using geothermal energy are of significant interest. 

Land 

Resources of Latvian subterranean depths consist of rocks and minerals, ground waters, hydrocarbons, 

geothermal energy and geological structures suitable for economic use. Latvia is rich in raw 

construction materials – resources of sand, quartz sand, sand-gravel mix, gravel, clay, dolomite, 

gypsum, as well as freshwater lime and tuff can be found. Peat used in agriculture and production, 

which is also exported, is of great economic significance. Latvia is also rich in spa resources – curative 

mud and mineral waters. In lakes, sapropel used in agriculture and the chemical industry can be found. 

The polluted and potentially polluted sites have been identified, and they have been included in the 

register of polluted and potentially polluted sites that can be found in the LEGMA's database. Overall, 

3,562 polluted and potentially polluted sites were examined and included in the register of polluted and 

potentially polluted sites, 242 of which were recognised as polluted. 

Waste 

Latvia produces 1 200–1 400 tonnes of household waste annually. A half of the total waste could be 

separated and degraded biologically; however, waste separation has only recently begun in Latvia and 

is developing slowly. Also different kinds of waste decomposing over a very long period, e.g., plastic 

bags offered free of charge in supermarkets, end up in dump-sites. 

The most serious problems identified in the Environmental Policy Strategy 2009–2015: 

o air quality standards are exceeded in the largest cities of Latvia, and the largest percentage of air 

pollution comes from transport emissions; 

o eutrophication of inland waters is increasing, especially in the southern area of the Gulf of Riga, 

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also the impact of agriculture on water quality is observed; 

o use of recycled raw materials creates a problem under the current economic crisis considering the 

significant fall in prices and demand, also the achievement of waste recycling objectives is difficult; 

o planning documents of other sectors insufficiently describe various environmental factors – 

environmental quality and noise for planning of traffic flows, geological risks, flood risks, measures 

for prevention of industrial accident risks; 

o lack of public awareness about the connection between the types and methods of economic 

activity and the long-term viability of natural assets; 

o lack of long-term, regular scientific studies on the possible impact of climate change on the 

environment of Latvia, risks posed by climate change and the impact of measures for mitigating 

climate change on the national economy, as well as economic and social adaptation measures and 

their implementation programme have not been developed; 

o insufficient funding for enforcement of the legislative requirements. 

8. Key development challenges for Latvia 

Demographical changes and urbanization 

In Latvia, similarly as in Europe, depopulation and ageing has a quite strong regional dimension. Present 

tasks of development provide for even and balanced development of territories, however, it may be 

hindered in the future. If national policy is not directed towards the elimination of these tendencies, the 

number of inhabitants will decrease in all regions of Latvia. It should be taken into account that the ageing 

dynamics of inhabitants of Latvia is more rapid than on average in the EU states, and already reduction 

in the number of children in several age groups is evident. 

According to the estimates of the World Bank, by 2025 the number of pupils in basic schools will decrease 

by approximately 25%, in secondary schools – by 20%, however, the largest decrease is expected 

in higher education where the anticipated reduction in the number of students is 40%. 

In the same time the degree of urbanization is high – approximately 68% of all inhabitants of Latvia are 

living in cities, though cities cover only 11% of the whole territory of the country. Although settlement 

structure is formed by rather evenly dispersed network of small and medium-size cities and rural populated 

areas, capital-oriented monocentric settlement and traffic infrastructure, as well as concentration 

of social and economic activities in the functional zone of Riga is characteristic to Latvia, and this tendency 

is becoming stronger. 

The main challenge is to implement such policy, which strengthens the capacity of regions, using their 

advantages and resources for growth as efficiently as possible. Contrary to the present monocentric 

settlement structure, the polycentric settlement structure should be developed, which would be formed 

by mutually subordinated and related networks of development centres of different levels, concurrently 

not weakening the positions of Riga as metropolis. 

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By stimulating urban-rural partnership it will be possible to ensure more equal life and work conditions, 

access to and quality of basic services, as well as mobility possibilities in both cities and the countryside. 

Reduction of the risk of structural unemployment 

Unemployment rate in Latvia is currently one of the highest in the EU. In 2010, the average share of 

job-seekers in Latvia was 18,7%. The share of long-term unemployed in the total number of registered 

unemployed compared to the previous years has increased significantly – from 11% at the end of 2008 

to 27.3% at the end of June 2010. Long-term unemployment could lead to high risks of structural unemployment 

negatively affecting labour skills and motivation to integrate in the labour market. 

Table 1. Employment target’s achievement trajectory 

2008 2009 2010 2015 2020 

Number of population 1400.3 1403.9 1405.3 1390.4 1322.1 

(aged 20–64) 

Number of employed 1061.1 941.9 907.5 958.4 965.1 

(aged 20–64) 

Employment rate, % 75.8 67.1 64.6 68.9 73.0 

Additional investments in training of the unemployed for improvement of qualification and other activation 

measures will be therefore of crucial importance. Improved link between active labour market programmes 

(ALMPs) and other social services like social benefits will be of importance for reducing risks 

of structural unemployment. 

Key policy directions and measures for reduction of the risk of structural unemployment: 

o Improvement of lifelong learning system (offering flexible vocational education programmes etc.); 

o Further development of the ALMPs (analyzing best practice examples and approaches to implementing 

ALMPs in other countries; improving service delivery systems to the unemployed and 

other economically active by introducing new service provision systems like “training vouchers” 

with accompanying performance monitoring; further developing ALMPs for the most vulnerable 

groups of unemployed; 

o Structural changes in vocational education (optimization and differentiation of vocational education 

institutions’ network, modernization of training equipment and improvement of infrastructure 

for implementation of vocational education programmes and for ensuring preparation of secondary 

professional qualification specialists required in the labour market); 

o Modernization of higher education (improving financing system of higher education, by introducing 

a performance-based financing model of higher education and science with the aim to ensure 

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consolidation of higher education and scientific resources and their efficient use while preserving 

their availability; improving the quality of study programmes and their competitiveness); 

o Fostering youth employment (improving integration of youth in the labour market; promoting the 

return of early school leavers, by ensuring simplified procedures of knowledge level’s assessment 

and study renewal). 

Energy Independence and Energy Provision 

The national target of Latvia is to raise the share of energy produced from the RES in the overall gross 

final energy consumption to 40% by 2020. In the same time Latvia has one of the highest shares of 

renewable energy in the EU. The share of renewable energy in transport sector should reach at least 

10% of the gross final energy consumption in transport. 

Although fossil energy and consumption thereof is not a possibility of sustainable future development, 

during the next 20 years Latvia will definitely not have any possibility to provide for our energy needs 

with renewable energy resources only. Thus, concurrently with the increase in the use of RER, Latvia 

should also ensure possibilities for import of safe and advantageous electricity and fossil energy resources 

in long-term. For example, such important energy resource as natural gas is supplied to Latvia 

only by one country – Russia. 

Table 2. Renewable energy sources target’s achievement trajectory 

Renewable energy sources target’s achievement 2008 2012 2014 2016 2020 

trajectory 

Share of renewable energy resources (%) 29.9 34.1 34.8 35.9 40.0 

Energy produced from RER in 2008 formed 29.9% of gross domestic energy consumption of Latvia. 

The most important local RER at present are wood (more than 50% of existing biomass resources are 

exported to European and other countries) and water. Latvia has significant peat resources at its 

disposal; however, their use in energy production is insignificant. Wind and biogas energy is used, there 

are also possibilities to use solar energy, however the proportion of these types of energy in energy 

production is small at present. In turn, the unused resource of wood is substantial. 

Policy directions: 

o Ensure availability of financial resources for the renewable energy production (including households) 

and consumption, by supporting security of energy supply; 

o Promote replacement of fossil fuels with RES; 

o Promote production and consumption of biofuel; 

o Develop cogeneration stations that use RES; 

o Improve infrastructure of energy supply system, including introduction of the electricity produced 

from RES into the domestic electricity market. 

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Improvement of business environment 

The increase of business and investment activities under the current circumstances is of crucial importance. 

Latvia takes the 24th place among 183 countries in the ranking of the World Bank’s Doing Business 

2010 index, by moving up for three places in the overall evaluation compared to the previous year. 

Key policy directions and measures for improvement of business environment: 

o Reduction of administrative barriers (simplification of administrative procedures, reduction of 

administrative costs and burden and introduction of e-services in such areas as business startups, 

tax administration, foreign trade, property registration, insolvency process, improvement of 

construction regulation for performers of economic activities, etc.; introducing the new Insolvency; 

developing and implementing one-stop shop principle (including virtual) in communication 

with public and local government institutions); 

o Speeding up absorption of EU funds (improving EU funds procurement monitoring system, 

as well as mechanism for challenging decisions on procurements conducted in projects financed 

by the commissioning party); 

o Tax policy promoting entrepreneurship and investment (enhancing motivation of local government 

motivation in entrepreneurship promotion and investment attraction by increasing local 

government financial autonomy and revising distribution of taxes between the central government 

and municipalities); 

o Access to financial resources (developing single and flexible administration and management 

of financial risk capital funding and guarantee support instruments); 

o Support to entrepreneurship, including business start-ups and microenterprises (microenterprise 

support measures, including developed network of Business incubators in all regions 

of Latvia, extended support for self-employment and business start-ups; training of employees 

by fostering introduction of new management methods; support to agriculture); 

o Introduction of digital single market and development of ICT (availability of broadband network; 

introduction of next generation networks, ensured digital confidence; expanding and improving 

skills of ICT practitioners and e-business skills, especially for competitiveness of SMEs; 

comprehensive e-government); 

o Strengthening capacity of local governments in attraction of enterprises and investments 

(providing support to local governments for strengthening competitiveness of their development 

centres and creation of functional links with surrounding territories, create favourable 

environment for business/investments in municipalities, more flexible laws for property dealing; 

reducing administrative barriers to entrepreneurship established by local governments; increasing 

capacity of spatial development planning, putting into practice new system of spatial development 

planning, which would allow reducing deadlines of territorial plan development, thus 

speeding up coordination/implementation period of investment project ideas, as well as ensuring 

efficient protection of legal interests of involved parties; preserving and developing rural liv- 

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ing as a space for qualitative living and working, by using fully the diverse potential of economic 

development); 

o Improvement of business infrastructure (development of infrastructure, transport and communication 

networks in regions outside the capital (Riga); development of industrial territories 

infrastructure; enhancement of port specialization). 

Financing Research and Development (R&D) 

The share of expenditures on R&D in Latvia was 0.47% of GDP in 2000, but in 2009 it reached 0.45% 

of GDP, which is one of the lowest public and private sector expenditures on R&D in the EU. The insufficient 

increase of financing for R&D can be explained by a small increase in state budget financing, as 

well as low contribution of the private sector in research, because the business structure of Latvia is 

composed of mainly small and medium-sized enterprises which do not have enough capacity to invest 

in R&D, and have medium-low technology sector. Along with deterioration of the economic situation in 

the country, the public and private sector investments in R&D continued to decrease in 2009 and 2010. 

Table 3. R&D target’s achievement trajectory 

2008 2009 2010 2015 2020 

Total expenditures on R&D 99.5 59.9 76.3 169.2 331.1 

(million lats) 

% of GDP 0.6 0.5* 0.6 1.0 1.5 

*CSB data 

The challenges to increase the expenditures on R&D in Latvia are as follows: 

o The structure of enterprises in Latvia, where micro- and small enterprises dominate with no 

capacity to invest in R&D, as well as relatively high share of low- and medium-low technology 

industries; 

o The number of people employed in science and research is too low to ensure implementation 

and sustainable growth of the state economic strategy – ageing of scientists, insufficient 

number of doctoral candidates; 

o Underdeveloped scientific and research infrastructure, insufficient number of up-to-date 

equipped laboratories for implementation of technology-oriented projects; 

o Weak commercialization potential of research results, poor cooperation between science 

and industry. 

Policy directions: 

o Developing potential of scientific activity, by consolidating the state scientific institutions and 

strengthening their infrastructure, by promoting attraction of human resources to science and 

fostering competitiveness of scientists; 

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In order to improve the cooperation between scientist institutions and to enhance the development of 

economic prioritized fields it is planned to develop 9 national research centres in following fields: 

1) Forestry and water resources; 

2) Pharmacy and biomedicine; 

3) Use of agricultural resources and food technologies; 

4) Latvian language, heritage and creative technologies; 

5) ICT and signal processing; 

6) Energy, environment and sustainable use of technologies; 

7) Nanostructure and multifunctional materials, constructions and technologies; 

8) Socio-economic and public management; 

9) Public health and clinical medicine. 

These activities include the purchase of modern equipment and scientific infrastructure improvements, 

establishment of new scientific groups and attracting additional human resources, national research 

projects. 

o 

o 

Promote commercialization of research results, by supporting cooperation of private and 

research sector, by supporting operation of competence centres and technology transfer contact 

points at the universities, by establishing regional innovation system, by implementing practice-oriented 

research in the framework of state research programmes and market-oriented research; 

Establishment of innovative enterprises and fostering their development, by supporting 

enterprises for development of new products and technologies. 

Main sources of information 

1. Central Statistical Bureau web page (www.csb.gov.lv) 

2. Development of Regions of Latvia 2009, State Regional Development Agency) 

3. Report on the Economic Development of Latvia, June 2010 

4. State Regional Development Agency web page (www.vraa.gov.lv) 

5. Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Regional Development web page (www.varam.gov.lv) 

6. Report “Agriculture and Rural Area of Latvia, 2009” 

7. Ministry of Education of Science data (www.izm.gov.lv). 

8. Latvian Investment and Development Agency web page and informal data (www.liaa.gov.lv) 

9. Community Research Development and Information Service (www.cordis.europa.eu) 

10. Latvian Institute web page (www.li.lv) 

11. Environmental Policy Strategy 2009-2015 , Ministry of Environment, 2009 

12. Study on Strategic Evaluation on Transport Investment Priorities under Structural and Cohesion 

funds for the Programming Period 2007-2013, No 2005.CE.16.0.AT.014, Country Report Latvia 

13. Ministry of Economics web page (www.em.gov.lv) 

14. Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia until 2030 

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CHAPTER 2 

SUPPORT STRUCTURES FOR 

INTERNALIZATION 

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CHAPTER 2.1 


INTERNATIONALIZATION 

SAXONY ANHALT 

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Main tools of support for regional & local organizations 

Enterprise Europe Network office Sachsen-Anhalt (EEN) 

o Main Activities (Seminars, Newsletter, Conferences, other…) 

Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Sachsen-Anhalt is partner for all small and medium sized 

enterprises (SME) and research and technology providers of Saxony-Anhalt regarding all EU-related 

matters. The consortium consists of Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) 

(coordinator) and tti Magdeburg GmbH (partner). EEN Sachsen-Anhalt is supported by the Ministry 

of Economy and Labour Saxony-Anhalt, the Chambers of Crafts and the Chambers of Commerce 

and Industry in Saxony-Anhalt. The tasks of EEN Sachsen-Anhalt at Magdeburg CCI mainly include: 

Information and advice regarding all EU-affairs (e. g. finance programs, legal affairs, development of 

Internal Market), support in cross-border activities of SMEs, feedback to the EU-Commission 

regarding obstacles in the Internal Market, support in international research and technology transfer 

and information about 7th Framework Program for research and technological development. EEN 

Sachsen-Anhalt is partner within the largest EU-network to support businesses. The network is 

present in more than 40 countries. 

Main tools for services of EEN Sachsen-Anhalt are: 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct contacts to clients, discussions and advice 

Workshops and seminars 

Brokerage projects and events 

Presentations during partner events 

Website www.een-sachsen-anhalt.de 

o Web & contact data 

The contact details for the EEN-Magdeburg are: 

Web-Link; 

Mail Adress: 

www.een-sachsen-anhalt.de 

Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Industrie- und 

Handelskammer Magdeburg, EEN Sachsen-Anhalt, Alter Markt 8 

39104 Magdeburg, GERMANY 

Tel: +49 391 5 69 33 40, Fax: +49 391 5 69 33 43 

Email: 

info@een-sachsen-anhalt.de 

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o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) 

tti Magdeburg GmbH 

Ministry of Economy and Labour Saxony-Anhalt 

Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Saxony-Anhalt 

Ministry of Education Saxony-Anhalt 

Halle Chamber of Crafts 

o Budget & Staff 

Number of staff: 

7,35 FTE (full-time equivalent) 

Budget: about 1.926.000€ within 2008 - 2010 (36 months), of which about 35% are funded by 

European Commission and 46% are funded by the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt. The residual 

budget consists of own contribution and project generated resources. 

o Level of Public & Private Partnership: 

Support and co-operation with Ministry of Economy and Labour Saxony-Anhalt, Ministry of Agriculture 

and Environment Saxony-Anhalt, Ministry of Education Saxony-Anhalt, Chambers of Crafts 

and Halle-Dessau CCI 

o 

Legal Structure: Host organization Magdeburg CCI is a public entity 

o Level of Internationalization: 

Degree of international networking activities as part of the overall activities: 

EEN Saxony-Anhalt is partner in an European network with more than 580 member organizations 

in more than 40 countries in and around Europe. All activities will be carried out in an international 

level like: 

Bilateral and multilateral co-operation projects for SME 

Providing of advice and information regarding market conditions abroad 

Support in internationalization of SME 

Information about single market and co-operation opportunities abroad 

Exchange programs 

Development of entrepreneurship 

Information about European financing programs 

International Technology transfer 

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o Relations with other internationalization support organizations in the region: 

Close collaboration with all relevant business and public organizations in Saxony-Anhalt 

o Interests in further EU co-operation and programmes: 

EEN Saxony-Anhalt is interested in participation in European co-operation and programs for SME. 

We are open for proposals to co-operate within the Enterprise Europe Network and with other 

European stakeholders in SME-related activities and projects. 

o Results & Experiences 

Since 1991 staff of Enterprise Europe Network Saxony-Anhalt (former EIC, since 1996 IRC) is acting 

in the field of advice and information regarding European matters and co-operation services 

and European projects for small and medium sized companies. Main results are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organization of and participation in co-operation events in Saxony-Anhalt and abroad in cooperation 

with partners 

Organization of several international buyers exhibitions in Saxony-Anhalt with several European 

partners 

Advice, organization and support of participants in European exchange programs 

Organization of European Market place in Magdeburg 

Organization of information events on European programs like FP7, LIFE+, Lifelong learning, 

European supporting programs for third countries, CE-labelling and product marking 

Spreading of information about public consultations of the European commission in preparation 

of policy decisions among companies in Saxony-Anhalt, collecting results and putting in the 

European SME-Feedback database 

Permanent information and reactions on requests of SMEs and other interested groups 

regarding EU-themes, answering about 1200 requests / year on European matters 

Providing of co-operation services and placing of co-operation partners 

Main difficulties & bottlenecks: Companies and R&D-providers are faced with following problems 

regarding their participation in EU-programs: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High demands and many efforts for proposal preparation 

Long lasting decision procedure and late start of the proposed project 

Low success rate for proposals 

In advance payment of project costs, late payment of EU-contribution 

Bank guarantee 

A lot of reporting obligations 

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The structure of the economy in Saxony-Anhalt contents mostly very small and small companies with 

less staff resources for EU-projects. Mostly the company owner or chief executive is responsible for 

such projects as well as for the whole company. This makes it difficult to participate in high demanding 

EU-projects. 

EU Service-Agentur 


Website (German and partly in English), call calendar, Information Conferences / seminars on 

funding opportunities, workshops, cooperation platform, advise on EU – projects and programmes 

(in general and project specific support – application process), support in partnersearch 

New in 2011: - training for employees of local municipalities. 


The contace details for the EU Service- Agentur in Magdeburg are: 

Web-Link: 

www.eu-serviceagentur.de 

Mail adress: Claudia Zott, EU Service-Agentur im Hause der Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt, 

Anstalt der Norddeutschen Landesbank Girozentrale, Domplatz 12, 

39104 Magdeburg 

Phone: +49 (0)391 - 589-8380, Fax: +49 (0)391- 589-1933 

E-mail: 

claudia.zott@ib-lsa.de 

o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members of the advisory board of the EU Service Agency 

County Association, 

Association of Towns and Municipalities, 

Representatives of Ministries, 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 

Municipalities 



3 FTE (full-time equivalent) 

Budget: about 926.600€ from August 2008 – December 2011 (41 months), of which about 78% are 

financed by ERDF funding. 

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See below 

o Legal Structure: 

EU Service-Agency is a project of the development bank of Saxony-Anhalt.The project is being 

part-financed by the European Union, namely by the European Funds for Regional Development. 



 

 

 

 

creation of interregional network for partnersearch, organization of joint activities and exchange 

of experience regarding the mobilisation of local and regional actors towards EU-projects 

Member of ERRIN 

within project EU Service-Agency we cooperate with IPP – Partnerregions 

group of international partners varies depending on the EU programme (network is continuously 

growing) 


 

 

close cooperation with EEN, Go Europe and EU – funding experts of universities 

also with ministries dealing with EU-Programms in their area of action 


 

 

Manifold interest 

main programmes right now: Interreg B and C (A not possible in Saxony – Anhalt), IEE, Lifelong 

Learning (especially Leonardo, Grundtvig), 


Main Results: Organisation of numbers of workshops and conferences/seminars as well as arrangement 

of projects (11 in 2010) 

Main difficulties & bottlenecks: to attract local municipalities to EU Programmes, burocratic hurdles, 

little knowledge about EU Programmes and the added value of the participation in EU – projects 

etc in administration of local municipalities, short period of action when project leader is searching 

for partner, actors in Saxony – Anhalt are not trained yet to react on short notice. 

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EU-Funding experts of universities 


Newsletter with calls of international reseach funding with about 300 subscribers from Saxony- 

Anhalt (www.forschung-sachsen-anhalt.de), five to six seminars on research funding per year, call, 

application and project management of FP7-projects, several information days on FP, FP/ and EUfunding 

programs per year. 


Web-Link: 

www.ovgu.de or: www.ovgu.de/forschungsfoerderung 

Mail adress: Technologie-Transfer-Zentrum TTZ, Martina Hagen, 

Gebäude 18, Zi. 514, Otto-von Guericke – Universität Magdeburg 

Tel.: 0391 67-18505, Fax: 0391 67-12111 

E-mail: 

martina.hagen@ovgu.de 

o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders are professors and scientists 


Number of staff: 5 FTE (full-time equivalent) 

Budget: about 857.000€ funding within 2010 - 2013 (48 months) by Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt 


Part of University (public, non-profit, higher-education) 


Administrative tasks are in project in order to strengthen the degree of international networking 

activities. 


Network, cooperation with other support organisations in Saxony-Anhalt (EEN, EUSA) in 

organization of events, information days , seminars 


Exchange of experiences with other support institutions, partner search, partner contacts 

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Main difficulties & bottlenecks: a lot of work to apply and manage projects, low success rates in 

programs, command of language 

GOEUROPE 


GOEUROPE ! European Youth Competence Centre Saxony-Anhalt in Magdeburg aims to improve 

the job opportunities of young people from Saxony-Anhalt and to provide support in order for them 

to find their place within the European system. The intercultural experiences and the thereby acquired 

cultural competences open up young peoples’ horizon of experience and at the same time 

provide them with a founded knowledge that may become a significant location factor for Saxony- 

Anhalt with regards to the settlement of businesses. Young people are introduced to the European 

perspective and Saxony-Anhalt is understood as being part of this perspective. 

In order to support young people, GOEUROPE ! fosters on the one hand the cooperation between 

schools and youth organisations and on the other hand trains a European youth competence team, 

which transfers knowledge and experience according to the peer-to-peer approach. 

The main activities of GOEUROPE ! include: 

Workshops and school project days about Europe 

Consulting /contacts with regards to European funds within the field of youth policies 

Information and events about European topics and options for contribution 

Setting up contacts with European partners 

Interregional exchange of experiences within the field of youth policies 

Cooperation of young people in the European Youth Competence Team 

Increased cooperation between schools and youth work in European projects 

Strengthening of the dialogue between young people, politics and administration in the field of 

educational and youth policies 

Fair and information stands 

Seminars and conferences 

Experimental game “Saxony-Anhalt in Europe” 

Living Library 


Web-Link: 

Mail adress: 

E-Mail: 

www.goeurope-lsa.de 

GOEUROPE! - Europäisches Jugend Kompetenz Zentrum Sachsen-Anhalt, LKJ, 

Liebigstraße 5, 39104 Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland, 

Tel : +49 (0)391 -2445175, Fax: +49 (0)391 -2445170 

info@goeurope-lsa.de 

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o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders: 

The target group of GOEUROPE ! includes young people, disseminators, and educators from 

Saxony-Anhalt. GOEUROPE ! is 100% part of the umbrella organisation Landesvereinigung Kulturelle 

Kinder- und Jugendbildung (LKJ) Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. (Association for cultural child and 

youth education in the federal state Saxony-Anhalt). The project is funded by the programme 

“Sachsen-Anhalt interregional” which is an operational state programme based on ESF funds. 

Among others the GOEUROPE ! advisory council consists of representatives of ministries, of the 

German Federal Employment Agency Magdeburg, of the State Centre for Political Education 

Saxony-Anhalt and members of the European Youth Competence Team Saxony-Anhalt. 

The GOEUROPE ! advisory council meets up biannually and its work is focused on content and 

further development of the project GOEUROPE! 

o Budget & Staff: 


2 FTE (full-time equivalent) + 40-50 volunteers 

Budget: about 372.000€ for period September 2009 – December 2011 (28 months), of which about 

93% are covered by ESF grants. 


Due to its umbrella organisation, Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung (LKJ) 

Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. (Association for cultural child and youth education in the federal state 

Saxony-Anhalt), GOEUROPE ! has longstanding experience within the field of European youth 

education. Together with its partners from four partner regions of Saxony-Anhalt several projects 

have been executed. Thus, there is an extensive knowledge in the field of funding programmes and 

the organisation of Europe-wide projects. Furthermore, GOEUROPE ! has built up a Europeanwide 

network of partners who realise youth projects and voluntary services, internships as well as 

holiday jobs. Consequently, The GOEUROPE ! team is able to consult, qualify and support young 

people and professionals with regards to projects with a focus on the European labour market. 

GOEUROPE ! has a number of regional and interregional partners. GOEUROPE ! European Youth 

Competence Centre Saxony-Anhalt aims to be a lobby facility for intensified cooperation of youth 

work, school, administration, politics, and economy in Saxony-Anhalt and to advocate a stronger 

emphasis of European aspects within the field of general and occupational education and their 

connection to the European labour market of political decision makers. 

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GOEUROPE! is a project within the non-profit, non-government organisation Landesvereinigung 

Kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung (LKJ) Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. (Association for cultural child and 

youth education in the federal state Saxony-Anhalt). LKJ is a national approved supporting organisation 

of youth welfare services in Saxony-Anhalt. The organisation is a member of the Bundesvereinigung 

Kulturelle Jugendbildung e. V., BKJ (German Association for Cultural Youth Education) 

and of the Kampagne internationale Jugendarbeit (Campaign International Youth Work). Constitutive 

on the offers of cultural education for children and youth who are active in the separate organisations, 

the emphasis of the work of LKJ lies in exemplary actions and projects for all members: 

various seminars and workshops, as well as activities of advanced training and consultancies in the 

field of cultural education for children and youth. 



International networking activities are a significant part of the overall activities of GOEUROPE!. The 

team intends to continuously improve its own skills and competences through the exchange with 

the project’s partners. 

GOEUROPE ! cooperates with four interregional partners in Centre (France), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), 

Siauliai region (Lithuania) and Ormasag region (Hungary). The execution of at least one joint project 

with the current cooperation partners is planned. The cooperation projects in 2010 included the 

seminar for quality assurance with Lithuania in Kursenai, Sept. 2010, joint exchange of methods, 

May 2010, with France and the Contact-Making-Seminar, November 2010, in Orleans and the 

seminar for sustainability with Hungary in Kemes, July 2010. Various cooperation projects in similar 

dimensions are planned for 2011. 

GOEUROPE! is an approved “Eurodesk” partner in Saxony-Anhalt. Eurodesk is a European youth 

information network, which consults young people for free and neutrally about options of mobility 

and participation within a European context. 


The cooperation with the regional partners entails cooperation and planning discussions and the 

execution of joint events and projects. In order to guarantee the continuous public presentation of 

the content and work of the Competence Centre, the cooperation with regional media is highly emphasized. 

The following organisations are regional partners within the field of internationalization support of 

GOEUROPE!: 

AG EXCHANgE Sachsen-Anhalt 

 

Auslandsgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. 

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EU Serviceagentur Sachsen-Anhalt 

Internationaler Bund (IB) Sachsen-Anhalt 

Kultusministerium Sachsen-Anhalt 

Mobilitätsberatung der Kammern in Sachsen-Anhalt 

ZAV Auslandsvermittlung Magdeburg 

In addition GOEUROPE! cooperates with the following partners on a national level: 

The German Youth Council in order to execute the “Structured Dialogue” in the field of youth 

policies and the new European youth strategy on a national level. 

 

 

The national agency “Youth for Europe” of the EU programme “Youth in Action” 

IJAB - International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany in order to maintain a 

continuous exchange of information within the framework of Eurodesk. This cooperation 

ensures availability of current information material. 


GOEUROPE! is funded until the end of 2011 and seeks to continue its work. Thus, the referring 

application is currently underway. Furthermore, the project intends to extend the number of project 

partners and would be very interested in starting new cooperation projects with IPP partners. 


Main Results: The goal of GOEUROPE ! European Youth Competence Centre Saxony-Anhalt is to 

improve the job opportunities of young people in Saxony-Anhalt through the conveyance of European 

competences. Thus, GOEUROPE ! maintains a strong regional and interregional network that 

allows the realisation of internships, seminars, European voluntary services and youth projects 

within the European context. The feedback and demand from schools, other organisations and individuals 

have been overwhelmingly positive. Workshops and seminars are well-frequented and 

within the period of September 2009 to October 2010 GOEUROPE ! was requested to perform up 

to 3384 consultations. Educators, trainers and participants of GOEUROPE ! activities have confirmed 

the effectiveness of the project’s positive impact on the process of development of a stronger 

European awareness as well as openness towards European topics which results in increased employability 

of young people from Saxony-Anhalt. Furthermore, GOEUROPE ! was able to profit from 

the experiences of and with partner organisations and therefore, improve its own processes and effectiveness 

within the field of European youth work. 

Main difficulties & bottlenecks: The main difficulties encountered by GOEUROPE ! include the attainment, 

motivation and maintenance of young volunteers in the field of European youth work. 

Therefore, seminars and workshops focusing on this topic are planned for 2011 in cooperation with 

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GOEUROPE’s partners and action plans to deal with this problematic are set out and currently in 

the process of being executed. In addition, the cooperation between scholastic and extra-curricular 

activities is not yet satisfactory and the level of cooperation is often difficult. GOEUROPE ! seeks to 

build a bridge that provides a platform for cooperation and further extension of activities within the 

European context that increase the employability of young people in Saxony-Anhalt. 

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CHAPTER 2.2 



ESZAK-ANFÖLD 

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Main tools of support for regional & local organizations. 

INNOVA 

o 

Main Activities (Seminars, Newsletter, Conferences, other...) 

 

 

 

 

strategic planning of the regional public innovation programmes 

organizes the innovation stakeholders into system and harmonizes the regional innovation process 

between the innovation service providers, the university knowledge centres and the innovative 

companies 

analyse the needs and tendencies of SMEs of the region on yearly basis and offers innovation 

management courses for companies and researchers 

coordinator of several running EU projects 


Web-Link: www.innova.eszak-alfold.hu; 

Mail Adress: Innova Észak-Alföld Nonprofit Kft., H-4031 Debrecen, Kürtös u. 4. 

Phone: +36-52-880-250, Fax: +36-52-880-251 

E-mail: innova@eszak-alfold.hu 

o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders: 

Észak-Alföld Regional Development Council 

University of Debrecen 

College of Nyíregyháza 

College of Szolnok 

North-Eastern Hungarian Development PLC 

Hungarian Innovation Association 

o Level of Public & Private Partnership 

None 

o Legal Structure 

nonprofit company (equivalent public body) 



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Innova is member of several international networks: Council of European BioRegions (CEBR); 

European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC); European Regions Research and Innovation Network 

(ERRIN). 

o Interests in further EU co-operation and programmes 

Interested in the following programs: FP7, CIP, Interreg IVC, Central Europe 

o 

Aims and Objective of the Organisation: 

universities , technological centres, research institutions, policy makers, Small and Medium-sized 

enterprises. 

o Main strategy 

Our mission: “To become such an innovation centre in the Észak-Alföld region, which takes the 

innovative ideas to market success along the region’s innovation strategy by connecting national 

and international actors” 

o Thematic and geographical focus 

 

 

 

Health, Agriculture, Information Technology 

EU-Programmes: INNOVA has participated in a large number of European research and development 

projects, most recent ones are: FP7, CIP, Interreg IVC, Central Europe 

Other internationalization activities: Innova is member of several international networks: Council 

of European BioRegions ( CEBR); European Geothermal Energy Council ( EGEC); European 

Regions Research and Innovation Network ( ERRIN) 

o Partnerships: 

Local partners 

The role of the Local Development Agents 

Regional & Local Network for innovation and Internationalization 

European Partners 

From Germany (Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg) 

From France (Champagne Ardenne, Aquitaine) 

From Spain ( Valencia) 

From Austria ( Styria, Vienna) 

From Italy ( Veneto) 

From Croatia (Vukovar) 

From Romania(North-West region) 

From Latvia (Riga) 

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From Poland ( Lesser Poland) 

From Slovakia( Bratislava) 

o Budget & Staff: 

Number and background of staff: 12 full-time employees; Background: Faculty of Economics, Arts, 

Agricultural Sciences. 

Level of public support: In 2009 : 84 % from public support; 16 % from entrepreneurship. 

Main Activities: Level of Communication & dissemination activities on EU projects & Programs compared 

to target group. 

Leader of the Communication and Dissemination Work Package in IPP, in INNOTRAIN IT and in 

PERIA. 

o Main results 

We do not have pre-set indicators on company level, but we measure our success by the following: 

Meeting the indicators set in the different applications 

Number of employees 

Number of projects where we participate 

Degree of our profit (the ability to cover costs which we cannot cover from public support) 

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CHAPTER 2.3 




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Support structure for regional & local organizations. 

Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea ( FCVRE) 


The Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea is a non-profit foundation aimed to 

strengthen the participation of the Valencian Region in the European Union’s policies and actions, 

and promotes a better knowledge of the same. The Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región 

Europea, according to the current legislation, has an indefinite duration and works under the 

protection of the Valencian Regional Government, the Generalitat Valenciana,. 

The objective of the Foundation is to promote the participation of the Valencian Region in the 

European Union’s policies affecting all its sectors. In particular, it offers assistance to the Consell de 

la Generalitat, the Valencia Autonomous Government Council, in managing policies of its 

competence concerning with Agriculture, Water and Sustained Development, Research, 

Development and Innovation (R,D&I), Cooperation and Transnationality, enlargement of the 

European Union, Academic Programs, Education and Culture, Communication and Information, 

Economic Development and Business, Infrastructure and Transport, and with any other area that 

might be involved in an European policy and that is of interest for the Valencian Region. The 

Fundation also promotes a better knowledge of its actions among the population and the actors of 

the affected sectors. 

The Foundation will try to reach its objectives by using – amongst others – the following strategy: 

1. Providing a thorough follow-up of initiatives offered by the European Union that have direct effects 

on the institutional, economic, social and cultural fields of the Valencian Region, as well as 

on any other field that is considered convenient. For this purpose, the Foundation establishes a 

direct communication with the Community bodies that are responsible for these initiatives. 

2. Promoting and offering information to the civil society, enterprises and institutions about all the 

initiatives developed by the European Union that have an effect in the Valencian Region. In order 

to obtain this goal, the Foundation makes use of instruments that allow the civil society to 

have direct access to these initiatives, i.e. by using all the systems and tools of the information 

society and especially Internet. 

3. Providing training and information as well as raising the awareness of the whole Valencian society 

about the European integration processes through dissemination actions, such as congresses, 

information sessions, conferences and other events to this effect. 

4. Offering advice and enquiry services on European matters, including aid, by means of the media 

and the technical and information tools the Foundation has at its disposal. 

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5. Offering assistance to the different departments of the Generalitat (the Valencian Regional 

Government) that are responsible for the execution of the Integrated Operational Programme of 

the Valencian Region. The Foundation also offers assistance to the departments of the Valencian 

Regional Government responsible for the Community Actions that will appear within the 

framework of the regional policy and that are derived from the interregional cooperation, sustainable 

development, urban and rural development, and social policies. In the same way, it assists 

in searching participation in, and support for, interregional cooperation programmes, as 

well as promoting cooperation for future regional policies. 

All natural or legal persons, public or private persons that have strong bonds with the Valencian 

Region are considered potential beneficiaries of the Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región 

Europea. The purpose of the Foundation will be of benefit to any group whose members’ identities 

are not individually predetermined. 

o Web & contact data: 

http://www.uegva.info 

The Foundation quarters are sited in Valencia and in Brussels. The Regional Vice-Ministry for 

Relations with the State and the European Union has four offices in the Valencian Region: 

In Spain: 

Valencia office (FCVRE and 

Europe Direct Valencia) 

c/ Juristas, 10 

46001 Valencia 

ESPAÑA 

Tels: +34 96 318 43 36 (Europe Direct Valencia) 

+34 96 318 43 94 

+34 96 318 44 03 

Fax: +34 96 318 43 50 

info@delcomval.be and europedirect_pre@gva.es 

www.uegva.info and www.europedirect-valencia.info 

Castellón office 

c/ Major, 78 

12001 Castelló 

ESPAÑA 

Alicante office 

Avda. Doctor Gadea, 10, 2ª 

03001 Alicante 

ESPAÑA 

Elche office 

Subdelegación del Consell 

Torre de la Calahorra 

c/Uberna, 14 

03202 Elche (Alicante) 

Tel: +34 964 35 82 66 

Fax: +34 964 35 82 66 

europedirect_cs@gva.es 

www.europedirect-castellon.eu 

Tel: +34 96 593 53 71 

Fax: +34 96 593 54 17 

europedirect_al@gva.es 

www.europedirect-alicante.eu 

Telf. +34 96 661 30 16 

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In Belgium: 

FCVRE Brussels office 

Av. Edmond Mesens, 7A 

B-1040 Brussels 

BELGIUM 

Tel.: +32 (0)2 282 41 60 

Fax: +32 (0)2 282 41 61 

info@delcomval.be 

www.uegva.info 

o 

Legal Structure: 

A non-profit foundation with an indefinite duration under the protection of the the Valencian Regional 

Government, the Generalitat Valenciana, according to the current legislation. 


The Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea strengthens the participation of the Valencian 

Region in the European Union’s policies and actions. 


Main Results (data updated December 2010): 

Collaboration with more than 300 European regions. 

105 approved projects and 7 initiatives since October 2003-December 2010. 

Valencian budget of approved projects: 85.57 MM € 

200.12 MM € total project budget approved. 

Projects under evaluation: 30 projects 

SEIMED (Servicio Empresa e Innovación en el Mediterráneo Español 

Enterprise) 


The Service Innovation in the Spanish Mediterranean (Servicio Empresa e Innovación en el 

Mediterráneo Español Enterprise (SEIMED)) is a consortium that brings together the most 

appropriate organizations to provide a service close to the companies. It includes the participation of 

entities that have 20 years of experience providing these services. SEIMED entities are part of the 

networks: Euro Info Centres (Euroguichets) and Innovation Relay Centres (CENEMES). 

SEIMED is part of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), initiative promoted by the European 

Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry. Within this network, SEIMED covers the territory of the 

Community of Valencia and Murcia. 

The aim of the EEN network is to help the companies to develop their full potential and innovative 

capacities through international growth, technology transfer, access to projects and EU funding. 

EEN is the biggest support network concerning European issues for SMEs (Small and Medium 

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Enterprises) and involves over 500 organizations (development agencies, technological institutes, 

chambers of commerce, universities, business confederations...), and 4,000 experts in more than 40 

countries. 

It offeres services in the sectors of European Information, Business Cooperation and 

Internationalization. 

In details: 

1. Internationalization: 

Encouraging business cooperation and the internationalization of SMEs helping the search for 

reliable business partners. Go to our Search Business Cooperation 

Publishing applications for business collaborations in its database, shared by more than 40 

countries 

Keeping partners informed, through the Bulletin for business cooperation. 

Organizing and participating in international business meetings. 

Informing about the benefits and opportunities of the internal market for goods and services. 

Advising on technical standards, legislation and European programs. 

Offering the opportunity to influence the processes of European policy-making company. 

2. Technology transfer: 

Helping in finding reliable technology partners through its Search Engine Technology 

Cooperation tool. 

Publishing Offer or Demand Technology (OT / DT) in its database shared by more than 500 

organizations in 40 countries. 

Keeping clients informed through the Bulletin of Technological Cooperation of the OT / DT 

requested by other companies or foreign entities. 

Providing technology audits performed in order to detect any OT / DT of the businesses. 

Organizing and participating in technical meetings (Brokerage Events). 

Facilitating the negotiation processes until the formal transfer of technology agreement. 

Advising on intellectual property. 

Reporting on funding and grants for R & D & I (Research, Development and Innovation). 

Finding technology that can help to improve the competitiveness of businesses, or 

commercializing the technology they produce, beyond their mere inclusion in their products 

and services. It garantees the economic survival of businesses. 

Within this concept of Open Innovation (Open Innovation – Henry W. Chesbrough), the Enterprise 

and Service Innovation in the Spanish Mediterranean (SEIMED) offers personalized assistance to 

companies, universities and technology centers in achieving international technology cooperation 

agreements with entities of other members of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). 

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3. Support for participation in European R & D 

In the context of the R & D European projects, the taskes of the consorcium are: 

Encouraging participation in the 7th Framework Programme for R & D, helping in the search for 

partners. 

Taking part into European projects and reports. 

Arranging interviews to check their project idea and identifying the programme that best suits. 

Advising on the drafting of proposals. 

Advising on the management of European projects. 

Offering training courses for professionals in the management of R & D projects 

Conducting information days. 


Web-Link: 

www.seimed.eu 

SEIMED has offices in the following entities: 

IMPIVA: Small and Medium 

Enterprises Insitute of the 

Generalitat Valenciana 

IMPIVA 

Plaza del Ayuntamiento, 6 


Telf. +34 963 986 200 

seimed@seimed.net 

www.seimed.eu 

AINIA: Agrofood Research 

Institute 

AINIA 

C/ Benjamin Franklin 5-11 

Parque Tecnológico de 

Paterna 

46980 Paterna (Valencia) 

Telf: +34 961 366 090 

info@ainia.es 

www.ainia.es 

INSTITUTO DE FOMENTO 

DE LA REGIÓN DE MURCIA: Murcia 

Region Promotion Institute 

Instituto de Fomento de la Región de 

Murcia 

Avda. de la Fama, 3 

30003 MURCIA 

Telf: +34 968 362 800 

seimed@seimed.net 

http://www.institutofomentomurcia.es/we 

b/innova/seimed 

UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE: 

Research management and Technology 

transfer Department 

Universidad de Alicante SEIMED 

Ed. Germán Bernácer 

Campus de San Vicente Raspeig 

Ctra. de San Vicente del Raspeig S/N 

03690 San Vicente del Raspeig 

(Alicante) 

Telf:+34 965 903 488 

peua@ua.es 

http://www.ua.es/es/presentacion/pe/peg 

/sgitt_otri.html 

REDIT: Network of Technological 

Institutes of the Valencian Region 

REDIT 

Avda. Leonardo Da Vinci, 48 

Parque Tecnológico de Paterna 

46980 Paterna (Valencia) 

Telf: +34 961 366 688 

Fax: +34 961 318 323 

info@redit.es 

www.redit.es 

CÁMARA COMERCIO DE 

VALENCIA 

Chamber of Commerce of Valencia 

Cámara Oficial de Comercio, 

Industria y Navegación de Valencia 

c/ Jesús, 19 


Telf: +34 963 103 900 

seimed@camaravalencia.com 

www.seimed.eu 

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CAMARAS DE COMERCIO DE LA 


Chamber of Commerce Council of the Valencian 

Region 

Consejo de Cámaras Oficiales de Comercio, 

Industria y Navegación de la Comunidad 

Valenciana 

Pza. Alfonso el Magnánimo, 12-2 

46003 VALENCIA 

Telf:+34 96 353 40 72 

www.camarascv.org 

COEPA: Trade Federation of the Province of Alicante 

COEPA 

Confederación Empresarial de la Provincia de Alicante 

Plaza Ruperto Chapí, 3 

03001 Alicante 

Telf: +34 965 140 267 

seimed@coepa.es 

www.coepa.es 


SEIMED is a consortium 


Main Results: 

Here are some of the successful projects: “biological solutions for fat in food waste”, “expanding 

portfolio and introducing new products in the European market”, “the power of flowers made more 

user-friendly construction”, “find for distributors in other markets”. 

REDIT (Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Region) 


The Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Region (Red de Institutos Tecnológicos de 

la Comunitat Valencianais (REDIT)) is a private, non-profit association that was created in 2001 by 

the Technology Institutes of the region and in collaboration with the Valencian Regional Government. 

REDIT accounts for 14 associated centres that offer a wide range of R & D & I (Research, 

Development and Innovation) advanced services addressed to business, especially SME´s, which 

need the support of external agents to innovate. 

 

 

REDIT´s mission consists in contributing to the regional, national and international 

recognition of the Technology Institutes as a model of efficient organisation in the Science, 

Technology and Enterprise System. 

REDIT´s vision is to become the organism that joins, integrates and represents the 

technology centres that are a model in the public and private collaboration, and that, 

individually and collectively, aspire to the international excellence and leadership in R&D&I 

and support the competitiveness of businesses through innovation. 

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Web-Link: www.redit.es 

Post Mail Adress: Avda. Leonardo da Vinci nº 48 , Parque Tecnologico 

Paterna, 46980 Paterna (Valencia, SPAIN) 

Tel: +34 96 136 66 88; Fax: +34 96 131 83 23 

Email: info@redit.es 

REDIT has the following associated institutes: 

o AIDICO. Technological Institute of Construction 

o AIDIMA. Technological Institute of Wood, Furniture, and Related Products 

o AIDO. Technological Institute of Optics, Colour and Imaging 

o AIJU. Technological Institute of Toys 

o AIMME. Metalmechanics Technological Institute 

o AIMPLAS. Technological Institute of Plastics 

o AINIA. ainia Technological Centre. 

o AITEX. Textile Technological Institute 

o IBV. Biomechanics Institute of Valencia 

o INESCOP. Technological Institute for Footwear and Related 

o ITC. Ceramics Technological Institute 

o ITE. Energy Technological Institute 

o ITENE. Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Institute 

o ITI. Institute of Computer Technology 

The contact data of all institutes appear as a link on REDIT’s website. 

o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders: The entities mentioned above 

Legal Structure: a private, non-profit association 


The institutes work in EU projects both enterprises and research 


Main Results: Some of the successful projects are: EPV (Electrical Powered Vehicle), Urban Car, 

Ecoeficiency solutions, ETIC-AUTO. 

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RUVID (Network of Universities of the Valencian Region for researching 

and innovation) 


The Network of Universities of the Valencian Region for Researching and Innovation (Red de Universidades 

Valencianas para el fomento de la Investigación, el Desarrollo y la Innovación (RUVID)) 

aims to promote cooperation lines in order to: 

 

 

Improve the development and transference of technological innovation from the Valencian 

Universities to the production system. 

Establish a common position of the Universities as agents of the Science-Technology- 

Enterprise system in the Valencia Region. 

RUVID specific objectives are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fostering scientific and technological research in the assembly of the Valencian 

universities. 

Contributing to enhance the competitiveness of companies and institutions in the Valencia 

Region, in national and international markets, through of the technological transfer. 

Promoting collaboration in the scientific activity of research groups of the Universities that 

make up the Association. 

Facilitating the participation of the research teams of the Valencian universities in programs 

to national and European level. 

Favoring the articulation of synergies in the management and the politics of R&D of the 

Valencian universities. 

Encouraging the disclosure and the communication of the science and the technology in 

the Valencian Community. 

In matters of research, generally, the universities are thus structured: departments, university research 

institutes or R&D centres, laboratories and University Knowledge Transfer Offices (Oficinas 

de Transferencia de Resultados de Investigación (OTRI)). All the programmes are channelled and 

managed via the Vice-Chancellorships of Research of each university. The university departments 

are in charge of organising and conducting research in their respective areas of knowledge. In 

these, the groups of research have naturally increased their performances in the R & D & I (Research, 

Development and Innovation) activities. 

In the technological infrastructures of the universities, the University Research Institutes and R&D 

Centres are particularly noteworthy since they are organisations especifically dedicated to scientific 

and technical researches. Thus, they act as organisational units that foster the research work of the 

departments and the integration of the departments with others units, both inside and outside the 

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same university. In addition to these structures, the universities also enjoy the technical support of 

laboratories and other research support services, in addition to the research and innovation structures, 

which in turn provide companies with numerous services. 

Each university in the Valencia Region also has a University Knowledge Transfer Offices (OTRI), 

which handles university-enterprise relations. The OTRIs disseminate and manage the technological 

capabilities of the universities, negotiating and managing R&D projects. They also provide information 

and advice for researchers and companies on intellectual property rights and funding 

sources. 

In order to establish a common position of all the Valencian universities as stakeholders in the Science-Technology-Enterprise 

system in the Valencia Region, in 2001, RUVID became a Network of 

Valencian Universities for the promotion of R & D & I (Research, Development and Innovation), 

through a collaboration agreement signed by the Region’s five public universities. In September 

2003, RUVID was established as a non-profit association and is currently made up of the seven 

Valencian universities. 


Web-Link: 

Post mail adress: 

www.ruvid.org 

RUVID Campus UPV 

Camino de Vera, s/n 

Edificio 6G 3a planta 

46022 Valencia, SPAIN 

Tel: +34 963 877 067, Fax: +34 963 877 949 

Email: 

ruvid@ruvid.org 

o Structure: General Assembly, Executive Commission, Secretariat, Technical Team. 

o Legal Structure: In 2003 RUVID was established as a non-profit Association 


RUVID is the EURAXESS Mobility Centre in the Valencian Region. 

o Results & Experiences: a great variety of R&D works –see more details on the web page. 

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Chamber Of Commerce, Industry And Navigation 


The main aim of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Valencia shares its aims 

with the others 84 Chambers of Commerce in Spain; i.e. offering services to businesses, in particular 

small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting the economic development of its locality, etc. 

The services offered by the Chamber are organised into four main areas: the promotion of international 

trade; education and training; business creation and new technologies and innovation. 

In the first area, the Chamber offers to companies the logistical support and training to prepare to 

move into foreign markets. With regard to education and training, Spanish Chambers of Commerce 

is the second largest educational institution in Spain in terms of the number of students. The 

Chamber provides training for executives, company managers and students undertaking vocational 

business training. On the business creation front, the Chamber has made considerable efforts to 

encourage entrepreneurship and make it easier for people to set up a new business by means of 

projects such as: the One-Stop Entrepreneur Shop programme, designed to simplify the administrative 

procedures required to start up a business), an integrated business support programme 

(Prop Entrepreneurs), and business incubators. The fourth area of services offered by the Chamber 

aims to encourage technological innovation in SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), 

considered as a basic requirement in order to improve their competitiveness in the marketplace. 

In addition, the Chamber of Commerce of Valencia plays the Valencian companies’ interests, acting 

as a consultative body and working together with the various public administrations. This 

means that it can instigate legislative amendments and provide expert opinion, above all on issues 

affecting businesses. 

The Chamber of Commerce of Valencia recordes a more than hundred-year-long experience in catering 

for companies’ real needs and in supporting the development of different industries. 

Web & contact data: 

Web-Link: 

www.camaravalencia.com 

Post mail adress: Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Valencia 

C/ Jesús, 19 

46007 Valencia (España) 

Teléfono: +34 963 103 900 Fax: +34 963 531 742 / +34 963 531 743 

Email: 

lnfo@camaravalencia.com 

o 

Structure: 

The Chamber of Commerce of Valencia is composed by: 

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- the General Assembly. It is the supreme organ of government and representation in the House. 

It is composed of people representing the most prestigious and important companies in the 

business world, democratically elected every four years. 

- the Plenary. It approves the budget, determines policy and appoints the House in its bosom 

- the Executive Committee. It is responsible for the permanent court management and 

administration of the House. It consists of committees and working groups, and 

- the President. It represents the institution, presides over all corporate bodies and is responsible 

for the implementation of their agreements. 

o 

Legal Structure: 

Public corporation (Law 3 / 1993 of 22 March). 

o 

Level of Internationalization: 

The Chamber offers a wide range of services addressed to exporting firms and companies which 

are interested in exporting. These services (i.e. trading missions and foreign trade fairs, taking contact 

with foreign countries, trading missions made up of foreign buyers) are necessary for firms to 

break into foreign markets and consolidate existing international markets. 

The Chamber of Commerce helps companies which do not export to start their dealings in international 

markets by means of the Foreign Trade Promotion Initiation Plan (PIPE) Programme. It includes 

a consulting service that gives assistance in putting together the company’s export plans. 

In addition, the Chamber provides businesses with a series of tools which allow them to increase 

their knowledge and understanding of foreign markets and to improve their marketing strategies. 

These include CABI (search for information about foreign trade), CACEX (questions and answers 

regarding foreign trade), DIAPEX (international trade assessment), the Directory of International 

Companies, and foreign trade surveys. 

Companies which are interested in exporting can join the Chamber’s Export Consortium Programme, 

through which they can contact other businesses which are interested in exporting and 

set up an export consortium. This service allows companies to gather and gain access to foreign 

markets. Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce helps to deal with many of the procedures and 

much of the documentation necessary to export: certificates of origin of goods, authentications of 

trade documents, ATA carnets and visas, and more. 

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o 

Results & Experiences 

Main Results: 

o 

The Chamber of Commerce of Valencia has implemented the following services: Euroguichet, giving 

information on European policies and programs of interest for businesses, on European programs 

regarding business cooperation (such as cooperation exchanges and business meetings), a 

European Business Center that incorporates all aspects of European innovation policy and competitiveness. 

In solving more recent issues, it has closely worked with the Innovation Relay Centre 

of the Spanish Mediterranean (Centro de Enlace del Mediterráneo Español (CENEMES)) of the 

Valencian Network of Technological Institutes (Red de Institutos Tecnológicos de la Comunidad 

Valenciana (REDIT)), specialized in technology transfer and innovation within the SEIMED Consortium. 

Chamber Council 

Main activities (Seminars, Newsletter, Conferences, other…) 

The Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Valencia, composed by the 

Chambers of Commerce of Alcoy, Alicante, Castellon and Valencia Orihuela, was officially 

established by Consell de la Generalitat Valencia with the Decree 81/1996 of 26 April, as a 

consultative organ that works in collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana and other 

autonomous institutions, and that represents, links and coordinates the Chambers of Commerce, 

Industry and Navigation of the Valencian Region. 

Its organs of government and administration are: the plenary, the Executive Committee and the 

President. These organs represent the five Chambers of Commerce (Alcoy, Alicante, Castellon, 

Valencia and Orihuela) and form the Board. The centuries-old houses are institutions deeply rooted 

in the economic sectors of the Valencian Region territory, and have a direct experience in business 

issues, gathering experience and knowledge of the Valencian economy. 

The Council of Chambers' missions are: coordinating the actions of all Chambers, guiding policy of 

the Generalitat Valenciana to businesses, acting as a catalyst in economic and business sectors. 

The purpose of the activities of the Council of Chambers of Commerce is the revitalization of the 

Valencian economy. It is pursuited by developing different activities in the fileds of information, 

education, foreign trade, domestic trade, cooperation, environment, transportation, handicrafts and 

industry. Many of these activities are carried out through programs and agreements with the 

regional administration. 

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Web-Link: 

www.camarascv.org 

In this web you can find all the contact data for the five Chambers of Commerce 

Post mail adress: Consejo de Cámaras de Valencia 

Pza. Alfonso el Magnánimo, 12-2 

46003 VALENCIA 

Tel.: +34 96 353 40 72 Fax: +34 96 353 40 73 

Local Development Agencies 


Local Development Agencies are Subsidiaries of the municipalities involved in mediation tasks, in 

promoting and supporting the economic development of their municipalities. They are therefore 

entities providing a public service, which aims to promote economic and social development, 

strengthening local resources, promoting employability and entrepreneurship. 

The major features carried out by the Local Development Agencies are: 

• Promoting the socio-labor sector. The agencies provide a job placement service to job seekers, 

developed through the identification of staffing requirements in enterprises. 

• Providing information and promote training activities. Agencies provide information on existing 

courses, offerings and supporting the development of training courses in the region led by 

different agencies. Such training activities are addressed to both employed and unemployed. 

• Advising and supporting various business initiatives. With this service is provided to both 

existing businesses and prospective entrepreneurs with all necessary information for 

implementation of the business. It helps to develop the project, reporting on the legal forms that 

may take the company, sources of funding, as well as various public aid to entrepreneurs who 

can access, complete the administrative formalities necessary to realize the business project. 

• Promoting the development of SMEs. Agencies inform enterprises of, and facilitate access to, 

the different economic instruments useful for their promotion and encouraging their business 

competitiveness. 

• Providing processes and subsidies. The agencies report about existing grants in training and 

employment businesses, and similars, and provide access to them. 

• Conducting municipal projects in the fields of tourism and infrastructure. 

• Promoting partnerships. The agencies encourage partnerships, regarded as a key instrument 

for development of the region. They also support the implementation of educational and leisure 

activities promoted by the various local associations. 

• Advising local government on employment issues. The agencies develop and manage various 

programs for employment and other employment initiatives under agreements between the 

National Employment Institute (Instituto Nacional de Empleo (INEM)) and the local corporations. 

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• Running the equal opportunity plans of municipalities. The agencies hold a series of actions that 

enable the recruitment and promotion of women in the workplace, as well as their social 

participation through the organization of activities. They promote the creation and consolidation 

of women-owned businesses while increasing presence of women working in professional fields 

easily accessible to them. 

• Promoting self-employment. The agencies manage training programs on demand, offering 

those groups who have a difficult labor market access the possibility to have access to micro 

credit on special terms. 

Services are provided by Local Development Agencies and address to: 

Unemployed. 

Companies, freelancers and entrepreneurs. 

Applicants for training. 

Partnerships of various kinds: for business, cultural, etc. 

Municipalities. 


Those interested in Local Development Agency concerns can be addressed to the Town Hall where 

they can inform 

o Structure & Level of Internationalization: 

Both differ from town to town. 

OPIDI-CV (R&D and Innovation Projects Office of The CV) 


The Companies Projects Office R & D & I (Oficina de Programas Internacionales de I+D+i (OPIDi)) 

is made of representatives of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Innovation and CIERVAL experts, 

the Council Chambers of the Comunitat Valenciana, as well as technical experts in national, 

international and regional technical contacts in the areas of Biotechnology-Health, Information and 

Communication Technology (ICT), Nanotechnology, Materials, Production processes, Energy, 

Environment, and more. It promotes and coordinates business participation in national and 

international R & D & i. At a European level it works with projects related to the National R + D + i 

and the Technology Fund 2007-2013. Moreover, it works in cooperation with the Seventh 

Framework Programme for R & D 2007-2013 and the Framework Programme for Competitiveness 

and Innovation (CIP) 2007 - 2013. 

The Office coordinates and monitors activities in order to support businesses in its areas of 

interest; developing its members, giving attention to companies and institutions in the search and 

identification of funding sources, supplementing the aid offered in the implementation of the R + D 

+ i businesses. 

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It also conducts information campaigns, dissemination and advocacy, to promote the participation 

of the companies in the national and international R + D + I programmes. In addition, it proposes 

initiatives to encourage, support and advice in setting up business consortia R & D + i. It help to 

prepare and present the proposed national and European calls, as well as manage them. 

It promotes the signing of agreements and other instruments of collaboration with public and 

private institutions in order to obtain financial resources for development of R & D enterprises. 

The office monitors the statistics of levels of business participation in national and European R + D 

+ i and the achieved results. It also coordinates the applications for participation in national and 

international projects that record the participation of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Innovation, 

and of related bodies. 

Finally, it leads studies and analysis, produces recommendations and other promotional activities, 

gives assistance to encourage the participation of companies and organizations in plans, programs 

and calls for aid related to the R & D + i, and works to promote the internationalization of the R + D 

+ i. 


Web-Link: www.indi.gva.es 

Post Mail Adress: Generalitat Valenciana. 

Consellería d'Industria, Comerç i Innovació 

c/ Colon ,32 

46004 Valencia, SPAIN 

Tel: +34 012 - 963 866 000 

Email: informa_industria@gva.es 

o Structure & Level of Internationalization:The legal structure is to be defined. The level of 

internationalization is in progress as well. 

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CHAPTER 2.4 



LATVIA 

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Main tools of support for regional & local organizations - 

Latvia 

The support structures of internationalization in Latvia are considered state institutions (ministries, development 

agencies), local authorities, planning regions, innovation and business centres, technological 

parks, universities, research institutes, NGOs. Some of the main support organizations are described in 

this chapter. 

State Regional Development Agency (SRDA) 

o Target group 

The main target group: local municipalities, planning regions and other partners involved in the 

processes of regional development. 

o Web&contact data 

Post Mail address: 

Līga Baltiņa 

19 Elizabetes street, Riga 

E-mail: Liga.Baltina@vraa.gov.lv, vraa@vraa.gov.lv 

Phone: +371 67079030, +371 29167300 

www.vraa.gov.lv 


The main goal of SRDA is to implement balanced regional development policy in Latvia and is 

focused on several functions: 

Managing the state financial instruments and the activities of the EU Structural Funds (ERDF, 

ESF); 

International cooperation in order to ensure exchange of information and experience at an 

international level; 

Support function for local municipality e-governance, maintenance and development of state e- 

services (www.latvija.lv) and e-procurement IT system; 

Research activities in the field of regional development; 

First level control function of European territorial cooperation programme projects. European territorial 

cooperation programmes office (host institution); 

Vision and strategies around the Baltic Sea (VASAB) (host institution). 

Contact point of the ESPON programme. 

Implementation of other financila instruments (e.g.Swiss - Latvian cooperation programme, 

Norwegian Financial Instrument). 

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o Thematic and Geographical focus 


The thematic focus: spatial planning, social issues, promotion of economic activity and employment, 

innovation development, e-governance, e-service, e-procurement, research. 

EU programmes. One of the SRDA fields of activity is participation in transnational activities, ensuring 

thus exchange of information and experience and promoting the SRDA objectives more effectively. The 

SRDA participates in territorial cooperation projects as well as in implementing the financial 

programmes of foreign countries. 

Main programs of participation: Baltic Sea Region Programme, Interreg IVC, ESPON (contact point in 

Latvia). SRDA ensures the operation of the EU Territorial Programmes Office, under which two 

information points and three Joint Technical Secretariats are operating. Other international activities. 

Implementation and administration of projects in the framework of Swiss-Latvian Cooperation 

programme and Norwegian Financial Instrument. SRDA actively is looking for new cooperation 

opportunities. 

o Partnerships 

Local partners. The most important partners for SRDA in international activities are the local 

municipalities, planning regions, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, 

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Latvian Technological Centre, universities, Latvian 

Association of Local and Regional Governments. 

International cooperation networks. Latvia is the contact point of ESPON (European Observation 

Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion), member of the IQ-NET network, and international 

projects networks. 

European partners. SRDA has established collaboration with different European countries’ local and 

regional governments, state institutions, research institutes and a variety of other institutions in regional 

development, including the EU fund promoters. 

Main SRDA international partners: the Nordic Council of Ministers, Saxony-Anhalt 

Representation to the EU, Development Bank of Saxony-Anhalt, State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt, 

the Baltic Institute of Finland, the Tampere region council, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional 

Research, Nordic Centre for Spatial Planning (Nordic Centre for Spatial development), Finland Baltic 

Institute. 

Common projects with Valencia (Spain), Eszak-Alfold (Hungary), Tampere (Finland), Estonia, 

Lithuania, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland and other countries. 

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o Staff and budget 

There are 110 staff members in SRDA (4 staff members are working with international cooperation 

projects). Budget for 2011 - 36 530 142 LVL (including EU programmes and other financial instruments), 

967 436 LVL (basic budget). 

o Main activities: 

Level of communication & dissemination activities on EU projects & programs. 

For dissemination of information and the best practice SRDA has various communication tools 

available: 

SRDA internet website (www.vraa.gov.lv). 

Publications in regional newspapers. 

Seminars and conferences, newsletters, flyers. 

Bilateral meetings. 

o Internationalization strategy 

SRDA has not elaborated an internationalization strategy as a single document. However, the agency 

has interested in implementation of development cooperation projects thus gaining and delivering the 

experience of SRDA in different topics relevant for regional development. SRDA cooperates with state 

and regional institutions, local authorities, NGOs and research institutes in other countries. 

o Main bottlenecks: 

Main obstacles identified for internationalization. As the main restrictions for broader internationalization 

the following factors could be mentioned: limited financial resources (co-financing), shortage in human 

resources. 

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (IDAL) 


National and international entrepreneurs. 

o Web & contact data. 

Post Mail Address: 2 Perses Street, Riga, Latvia LV-1442 

Tel: +371 67039400 

Fax: +371 67039401 

E-mail: liaa@liaa.gov.lv 

Web site: www.exim.lv 

www.liaa.gov.lv 

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Promote business development by facilitating more foreign investment, in parallel increasing the 

competitiveness of Latvian entrepreneurs in both domestic and foreign markets. 


EU-Programmes 

IDAL is responsible for administration of several EU Structural Funds programmes’ projects. 

All of them are directed towards support of business activities. These projects among others include: 

- development of new products and technologies; 

- investments in micro-, small and medium businesses in territories requiring special support; 

- creation of competency centres in Latvia; 

- creation of regional business incubators in Latvia; 

- creation of technology transfer offices; 

- acquisition of external markets – participation in international fairs and trade missions; 

 

 

IDAL operates within Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), providing information about European 

Union policies, legislation, regulations, trade system, and assists in seeking of business partners 

within the EEN network in 44 countries in the world. 

IDAL is also involved in the implementation of national programmes on export and innovation 

promotion and participates in EU 7th Framework Programmes' projects. In addition IDAL is a 

partner in several Baltic Sea Region programmes’ projects. 

o 

Main Activities (Seminars, Newsletter, Conferences, other…) 

Investment Facilitation. Assistance in investment location selection and implementation of investment 

projects: 

 

 

 

 

Provision of all relevant information on business opportunities and investment incentives. 

Identification of the best real estate options for manufacturing facilities, offices and land. 

Assistance in establishing and developing contacts with Latvian business partners. 

Legal assistance with start-up procedures. 

Suppliers' Searches. Assistance in finding appropriate Latvian suppliers and in increasing their 

competitiveness: 

Provision of information on Latvian exporting companies, export products and services 

Search of Latvian suppliers according to buyers' requests. 

Distribution of incoming business proposals to Latvian companies directly and through the 

Internet. 

Organisation of trade seminars and foreign trade missions to Latvia. 

Consultancy and foreign market studies for Latvian enterprises. 

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Assistance to Latvian companies at international exhibitions and trade missions, export promotion 

campaigns and business matchmaking. 

Provision of information on workforce availability and skills' evaluation. 

Follow-up Service. Follow-up and support after the implementation of investment or subcontracting 

projects. 

State Support Programmes. Implementation of a number of state support programmes for the development 

of entrepreneurship. 

Information on EU common market. Within the IDAL operates Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), 

providing information about European Union policies, legislation, regulations, trade system, and assists 

in seeking of business partners within the EEN network in 44 countries in the world. 

Foreign representatives. IDAL foreign representatives provide information about business opportunities 

in Latvia, relevant legislation, the taxation system, the national economy and external trade. 

They promote and facilitate cooperation between Latvian companies and businesses in the particular 

country or region. The representatives assist in the finding. 

o Structure 

IDAL is a state agency operating under the supervision of Ministry of Economics of Republic of Latvia. 


Overall International activities: overall international activities: 50%, participating in EU projects 

and initiatives: 5 - 10%. 

IDAL operates within Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), providing information about European 

Union policies, legislation, regulations, trade system, and assists in seeking of business partners 

within the EEN network in 44 countries in the world. 

IDAL foreign representatives provide information about business opportunities in Latvia, relevant 

legislation, the taxation system, the national economy and external trade. They promote and facilitate 

cooperation between Latvian companies and businesses in the particular country or region. 

The representatives assist in the finding. 

IDAL is a partner in several Baltic Sea Region programmes’ projects, currently active projects 

are: 

- StarDust; 

- JOSEFIN - Joint SME Finance for Innovation; 

- BSR InnoReg Strengthening Innovation Governance in Baltic Non-metropolitan Regions 

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The agency has also submitted several international cooperation project proposals that are going 

under the procedure of evaluation. 

IDAL considers participation in international projects and other business promotion incentives as a 

substantial contribution to fulfilment of its activities. . 

o Budget and Staff 

Currently 195 people are employed at IDAL, including 68 specialists working with EU Structural 

Funds programmes’ projects, 20 specialists working closely with promotion of export of Latvian 

companies abroad and 12 specialists in the sphere of attraction of foreign investments. In addition 

13 highly qualified specialists are employed in Foreign Economic Representative Offices in Norway, 

Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, UK, Russia and Japan. 

o Main results 

Indicators used to measure success: each year in cooperation with Ministry of Economics of Republic 

of Latvia a detailed activity plan is elaborated, it includes the indicators. 

o Main bottlenecks 

The main bottlenecks concerning a more active involvement in international activities is lack of 

financial as well as human resources. 

Conditions of cross-border cooperation programmes are more complex, as the 6th and 7th 

Framework Programme projects. Consequently, participation in the third target cross-border 

program requires about 30% of the workforce to devote resources to supporting documentation 

gathering, compilation and report preparation. Particularly in public institutions motivation for 

participation in these program projects will reduce the discrepancies in legislation of the EU and the 

Latvian Republic, restrictions on new job creation for projects, in addition to the restrictions on 

working hours, prohibition of project expenditures include money leave, sick pay even though the in 

the BSR program that is allowed, restrictions of the premiums for the increased workload in 

combination with substantially more complex accounting and reporting procedures, differences in 

planning periods - UK finance calendar year, the EU projects irregular, for example, from August to 

February. As a result, the employee on the same salary has more work. In the case of business and 

public organizations, the problem is the restrictions of state aid to match the projects in combination 

with the requirement to 100% and 15% pre-financing for the execution of the same organizations. 

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State Education Development Agency (SEDA) 


Basic and general education institutions, vocational education institutions, local governments, societies, 

entities (any legal person), adult education institutions, institutions of higher education - 

teachers and students, education officers in policy and decision-makers at both national and local 

government institutions, NGOs in the context of education policy issues, guidance specialists in 

education and employment system, interested parties on the mobility opportunities in Europe for 

educational 

purposes. 


Vaļņu iela 1, Rīga, 

LV-1050, Latvija 

Phone.: 67359078, fakss: 67830830 

dagnija.dilane@viaa.gov.lv , 

www.viaa.gov.lv 


SEDA is the one-stop-agency for services in initial and further education and is the national agency 

for Comenius, Leonardo da Vinci, Grundvig, Erasmus programmes in Latvia. 

With a budget of nearly €7 billion for 2007 to 2013, the programme funds a range of actions including 

exchanges, study visits and networking activities. Projects are intended not only for individual 

students and learners, but also for teachers, trainers and all others involved in education and training. 


EU-Programmes. There are four sub-programmes which fund projects at different levels of education 

and training: 

 

 

 

 

Comenius for schools 

Erasmus for higher education 

Leonardo da Vinci for vocational education and training 

Grundtvig for adult education 

Other internationalization activities. Other projects in areas that are relevant to all levels of education, 

such as language learning, information and communication technologies, policy co-operation 

and dissemination and exploitation of project results are funded through the "transversal" part of the 

programme. 

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In addition, the programme includes Jean Monnet actions which stimulate teaching, reflection and 

debate on European integration, involving higher education institutions worldwide. 

o Main Activities 

 

 

 

Seminars, Newsletters, Conferences, Interviews, Press releases, Publishing of best practice stories, 

regional contact points. Project administration. 

Cooperation with foreign institutions and international organizations in the selection of candidates 

for scholarships offered by foreign and international organizations in the field of education 

and science; 

Latvian representation within the EU information and Guidance network Euroguidance. 

o Structure 

SEDA is a state agency operating under the supervision of Ministry of Education and Science Republic 

of Latvia. 


Degree of international networking activities: overall activities 


Number and background of staff: 115 employees. 

o Level of public support 

SEDA is under subordination of The Ministry of Education and Science. 

o Main bottlenecks, main obstacles identified for internationalization. 

Complicated project implementation procedures, difficulties to find project partners, contradictions 

between legislation of EU and Latvia, the number of submitted projects is much more bigger than 

the number of approved projects hence the motivation to participate in projects competitions is 

lower. 

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Foundation “Ventspils High Technology Park” (VATP) 

o Target groups 

Companies, research and training centres, employees, students in the high technology sectors. 


www.vhtp.lv 

Address: 

Ivars Eglajs, Chairman of the Board 

101 Inzenieru Street, 

Ventspils, LV-3601, Latvia 

Phone: +371 6 36 29661 

Mobile: +371 2 9126249 

Fax: +371 6 36 29662 

Email: ivars.eglajs@vhtp.lv 


The objective of VHTP is to perform management of the territory and physical infrastructure being 

under the authority of the VHTP, as well as organize activities in order to promote development of 

the high technology sectors. 

The vision of VHTP is to be the most attractive and competitive regional technology park in the 

Baltic States by: 

 

Offering High quality infrastructure, services and collaborative environment for local and foreign 

capital companies, research and training centres operating in IT, telecommunications, electronics, 

engineering, industrial automation, computer aided design and space industries; 

Providing all preconditions needed by companies, research and training centres to achieve 

rapid growth, to create new good workplaces and to successfully operate in global markets. 


EU-Programmes: 

Thematic: information technologies, telecommunications, electronics, engineering, industrial 

automation, computer aided design and space technologies. 

Geographical: Latvia, Baltic States, Baltic Sea Region. 

Main programs of regional participation: European Union Seventh Framework Programme 

(FP7/2007-2013), Estonia-Latvia Programme. 

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Other internationalization activities: 

Thematic: information technologies, telecommunications, electronics, engineering, industrial 

automation, computer aided design and space technologies. 

Geographical: EU, USA, CIS. 

Norwegian government bilateral financing instrument. 

EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. 

o Main Activities: 

Export promotion activities. Promote internationalisation of local and regional economy; 

Attraction of investors and manufacturing companies to local market; 

Provision and maintenance of premises and services for high-tech and manufacturing companies; 

Design and construction of qualitative industrial and office buildings, engineering communications 

and access roads; 

Implementation of projects of various scale in different fields. Areas of priority are IT, telecommunications, 

electronics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial 

automation, computer aided design, space technologies, etc.; 

Co-operation projects with Ventspils’ higher and vocational education institutions; 

Provision of consultancy and services for start-ups within the VHTP business incubator and 

pre-incubator. Services and consultancy include prototyping, marketing, accountancy, law, 

technology issues, business planning, development of projects for EU funds; 

Space industry cluster activities. 

o Structure 

The Board: Ivars Eglājs, Chairman of the Board; Dana Reizniece, Member of the Board; Igors 

Udodovs, Member of the Board. 

The Founders: 

Ventspils Free Port Authority. Ventspils Free Port Authority is an executive body managing and 

promoting commercial activities in the Ventspils Port’s territory. 

Ventspils University College. Ventspils University College is a central body in the city preparing 

qualified human resources and providing modern academic and vocational education. Ventspils 

University College is also the main scientific research centre in Ventspils. 

Industrialas Investicijas Ltd.“Industrialas Investicijas Ltd.” is a private investor and the developer 

of the Industrial Park’s physical infrastructure. 

Latvian Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry Association. Latvian Electrical Engineering 

and Electronics Industry Association is a public organisation uniting Latvian companies from 

the fields of electronics and electric engineering, as well as research and educational bodies. 

Association of Mechanical Engineering and Metalworking Companies. The Association of Mechanical 

Engineering and Metalworking Companies is a public organisation uniting Latvian com- 

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panies from the fields of mechanical engineering, device manufacturing and metalworking, as 

well as research and educational bodies. 

Siemens Ltd. Siemens is one of the world’s leading hi-tech companies in the fields of IT and 

communications, power generation, etc. 

Zernike Group Holding B.V. Zernike Group Holding B.V. is one of Europe’s leading companies 

managing scientific and technological parks. 

 

Level of Public & Private Partnership (founders): 

2 Public institutions, 3 Private companies, and 2 NGOs. 



The budget of international projects in year 2010: 312 thousands Lats equivalent to 31% from 

VHTP budget. 

Relations with other internationalization support organizations in the region. VHTP implements 

different internationalization support projects in co-operation with: 

Other Business incubators and science parks in Baltic States; 

Venture and seed capital funds in Latvia; 

Latvian Investment and Development Agency (Latvia); 

GatewayBaltic (Latvia); 

Enterprise Estonia (Estonia); 

iiGrowth LLC (USA); 

Cormack Consultancy Baltic (Baltic States, UK); 

Zernike Group BV (The Netherlands, joint ventures in other countries); 

Other organisations. 

Interests in further EU co-operation and programmes: 

Joint projects with other internationalization support organizations, in order to expand geographical 

scope of export promotion and technology transfer activities; 

Co-operation among Business incubator companies; 

Joint development of new technologies; 

Attraction of investors and manufacturing companies to local market; 

Business incubation; 

Pre-incubation; 

Creation of mentoring network; 

Creation of business angels and venture capitalists network as well as identifying and working 

with them; 

Business support, training and research & development projects in space industry. 

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Links to other innovation centres in Europe: 

The main links with innovation centres in EU involve: 

 

 

 

Business incubators and science parks (Baltic States); 

Zernike Group BV (The Netherlands). Zernike designs, creates and manages technology parks 

worldwide. Zernike operates offices throughout Europe, UK, USA, Asia and Australia; 

Space industry centre in Bremen (Germany) – OHB System, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, 

other organisations. 

Share of foreign capital companies: 10% 

Existence and size of internationalization offices 

 

 

Business incubator is a structural unit of VHTP offering wide range of business and internationalisation 

support services. 

VHTP is a cluster co-ordinator for Latvian space industry. 

Existence and main elements of internationalization strategy: 

Internationalisation support is an integral part of VHTP activities. 

Main elements are: 

- Marketing support to technology companies; 

- Partnership and joint projects with other internationalization support organizations. 


Main Results Indicators used to measure success: 

Number of companies receiving support; 

Number of companies and research centres located in VHTP territory/ premises; 

Growth of the companies (increase of turnover, number of employees, etc.); 

Feedback from the companies; 

Implemented joint projects and achieved project indicators. 

Main difficulties & bottlenecks: 

Shortage of qualified specialists; 

Regular flights to/from Ventspils. 

o Partnerships: 

Local partners 

The role of the Local Development Agents: 

New product design, development, testing; 

Organisation of trade missions and participation in trade fairs; 

Training; 

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Research; 

Marketing support; 

Business incubation; 

Technology transfer; 

Seed and venture financing. 

Regional & Local Network for innovation and Internationalization: 

Business incubators and science parks (Latvia); 

Technology Transfer centres (Latvia) 

Universities and Research institutes (Latvia) 

Latvian Investment and Development Agency (Latvia); 

GatewayBaltic (Latvia); 

Space industry cluster participants (companies, research institutes, Universities, 

NGOs); 

Venture and seed capital funds in Latvia; 

European Partners 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zernike Group BV (The Netherlands). Zernike designs, creates and manages 

technology parks worldwide (Europe, UK, USA, Asia and Australia); 

Space industry centre in Bremen (Germany) – OHB System, Bremen University 

of Applied Sciences, other organisations; 

Cormack Consultancy Baltic (Baltic States, UK); 

Tartu University (Estonia); 

Tartu Observatory (Estonia); 

Tartu Science Park (Estonia); 

Institute of Baltic studies (Estonia); 

Enterprise Estonia (Estonia); 

International Space University (France); 

Invent Baltics (Estonia); 

Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania); 

Swedish Space Corporation (Sweden); 

Wasat Sp. Z.o.o. (Poland). 


Number and background of staff: 14 employees, VHTP team includes experts from engineering, 

economy, finance, law, industry, etc., specialising in innovations and technologies. 

Budget in year 2010: 1 001 thousands Lats (1 424 thousands Euros) 

Level of public support: state aid for Business incubation activities in year 2010: 404 thousands 

Lats. 

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Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LARG) 


The main target group is local governments – elected representatives or administrative level, according 

to the specifics of each programme. The LALRG promotes and facilitates involvement in international 

activities of both line specialists and coordinators of international issues thus enabling dissemination 

and implementation of best practice experience and knowledge. 

o Web&contact data 

Post mail Address: Mudīte Priede 

Phone.: +371 67508535, 

E-mail: mudite.priede@lps.lv 

Web: 

Mazā Pils street 1, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia 

www.lps.lv/www.lalrg.eu 


LALRG international activities are focussed on several directions: 

Raising of capacity of LALRG staff members and local government representatives; 

Protection of local government interests; 

Support for implementation of international projects according to local government 

needs. 

o Thematic and Geographical focus 

EU programmes. The thematic focus is very broad: good governance, social issues, environmental 

and energy efficiency, management of public utilities (waste management, water supply management, 

etc.), migration issues, promotion of economic activity and employment, exploring usage of e- 

governance solutions, and others. The geographical focus includes Nordic countries, other EU member 

states, encouraging cooperation with the so called ‘2004 member state’. 

Main programs of regional participation: Baltic Sea Region Programme, Interreg IVC, Central Baltic 

Interreg IV A programme, Europe for Citizens. 

Other international activities. One of the main directions of LALRG international activities is 

development cooperation projects that in geographical scope covers mostly former soviet countries. 

During the last six years the LALRG has actively been involved in implementation of development 

cooperation programs. Besides the national funding for development cooperation, financial support 

from different international donors – USAID, UNDP, and other has been used. The LALRG has also 

participated in calls for proposals announced by the Europe Aid programme. 

LALRG has participated in projects funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

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Local partners. The most important partners for LALRG in its international activities are local 

municipalities; as well as other organization – Association of Executive Directors of Latvian Local and 

Regional Governments, Latvian Association of Large Cities – and LALRG social partners Employers’ 

Confederation of Latvia, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Free Trade Union 

Confederation of Latvia. 

International cooperation networks. LALRG is an active member of the Council of European 

Municipalities (CEMR) which is the largest organisation of local and regional government in Europe 

associating members are over 50 national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 

38countries. LALRG members and advisers participate in various CEMR activities, especially working 

groups in different fields - regional policy, transport, environment, equal opportunities, governance, etc. 

- to make sure the interests and concerns of local and regional authorities are taken into account when 

drafting EU legislation. 

LALRG has joined the European Platform of Local and Regional Authorities for Development 

(PLATFORMA) which was launched during the European Development Days of Strasbourg in 

November 2008. Coordinating the voice of local and regional authorities and of their representative 

organisations to the European institutions, PLATFORMA is committed toward three major objectives: 

1) a better acknowledgment of the action of Local and Regional Authorities in development 

cooperation; 

2) the set up of a solid dialogue between European local and regional authorities and EU 

institutions in charge of Development policy; 

3) the promotion of an efficient decentralised cooperation. 

LALRG has also cooperated with the Innovation Circle network which is an international association 

working for the benefit of smaller and medium sized places in Northern Europe, aiming at making such 

places sustainable and more attractive. 

The network strengthens transnational cooperation and enhances awareness about cultural diversity, 

political and religious traditions; it brings decision makers, specialists, business people, voluntary 

workers and youths from different countries together into development projects and events. 

European partners. LALRG actively engages in the work of above mentioned CEMR, as well as 

CLRAE and CoR. Much of the international activities are initiated and implemented in close and 

successful cooperation with local and regional government associations in other countries. 

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o Staff 


There are 24 staff members of the LALRG, 18 out of which are advisers responsible for specific 

field. Three persons are directly responsible for working with international issues, however, other 

advisers are actively involved in international activities (depending on the topics and profile of 

particular activities), as well as representatives of LALRG members – local self-governments. 

LALRG representative office in Brussels is of great importance for organization’s international work. 

o Main activities: 

Level of communication&dissemination activities on EU projects&programs 

For dissemination of information and best practice LALRG has various communication tools 

available: 

LALRG internet website (www.lps.lv ), electronic weekly newsbulletin, periodical 

“Logs”. 

Important and relevant information is also disseminated in LALRG committee 

meetings, board meetings, council meetings, and the annual congress. 

In addition, face-to-face communication and on the site discussion with members 

remains an important tool. 

o Links to other local government associations in Europe 

Cooperation with local government associations in Baltic and Nordic states are carried 

on within the framework of work in the CoR, CLRAE, CEMR, discussing and on certain 

cases formulating common opinion on matters solved in these institutions. 

LALRG has signed a contract with local government associations of Lithuania and 

Estonia, aiming at closer future cooperation. 

Cooperation with local government associations of Nordic countries has been of great 

importance when implementing project aimed at transfer of best practice of local 

administration in Nordic countries. 

Relations with local government association in former USSR countries are developed 

and strengthened in implementation of concrete development cooperation projects 

funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, as well as various international 

donors. 


LALRG has not elaborated an internationalization strategy as a single document. However, the 

association has set the main priorities for international activities: 

1) implementation of development cooperation projects thus delivering the experience of LALRG 

and Latvian municipalities in different topics relevant for local management; 

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2) building close and sustainable cooperation with local and regional government associations in 

Baltic and Nordic countries through participation in joint projects, as well as coordinating job 

within the framework of international organizations and initiatives; 

3) active and coordinated work with an aim to encourage and facilitate twinning relations among 

self-governments in Latvia and foreign countries. 

o Main bottlenecks: 

Main obstacles identified for internationalization. 

As the main restrictions for broader internationalization the following factors could be mentioned: 

1) limited human resources; 

2) limited financial resources (co-financing for project; expenses of participation at international 

activities not covered by project funding); 

3) restricted time/busy time schedules for self-government representatives and LALRG staff. 

Vidzeme Planning Region (one of the 5 planning regions in Latvia) 


Inhabitants of the Vidzeme region, municipalities, institutions, organisations and enterprises. VPR 

provides the following services to the target groups: 

Ensuring planning – organization and implementation of spatial development planning on the regional 

level, involving all interested parties, issuing statements for local municipalities 

Representation of interests – representation of regional development interests on the national 

and international levels. 

Support to development and partnership – organization of co-operation events, consulting, organization 

of project calls, attracting other regions and foreign partners, implementation of projects 

for municipalities, NGOs, entrepreneurs and other groups of the society, development of regional 

projects and support for partnership building and development. 

Providing information – compiling statistical information, carrying out research, compiling and 

publishing information on topical issues. 

Co-ordination work of municipalities – ensuring co-operation of municipalities through organizing 

events and ensuring the work of the Development Council; 

Implementation of specific functions – culture, public transport. 

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o Web&Contact data 

Post Mail address: 

Vidzeme Planning region 

Jāņa Poruka iela 8, 108 kabinets. 

Cēsis. Cēsu novads. LV-4101 

Phone. +371 64116006 Fax: +371 64116012 

E-mail: vidzeme@vidzeme.lv 

www.vidzeme.lv 

o 

Main strategy 

VPR Mission. To promote long-term sustainable development of the Vidzeme region, offering efficient 

services to inhabitants and municipalities in achievement of jointly defined development 

objectives. 

VPR Vision. Every inhabitant of Vidzeme is an educated, economically active and happy patriot 

of Vidzeme, every inhabitants would like to be an inhabitant of Vidzeme. 

The Development Programme of the Vidzeme Planning Region 2007-2013 has set the following 

strategic priorities: 

Development of infrastructure and services 

Economic development, increasing competitiveness and progress towards knowledge-based 

economics 

Development of human resources and increase of employment 

Development of rural areas 


EU programmes. 

VPR has partnership with organizations mostly from Sweden (9), Estonia (6), Norway (5), Poland (3), 

Finland (2), also Lithuania, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Rumania, Slovakia, Bulgaria. 

Vidzeme Planning Region (organization) participating with projects in Central Baltic Interreg IV A Programme, 

Baltic Sea Region Programme, Interreg IVC , Crossborder cooperation with Russia and Estonia 

– in the area of infrastructure and enterpreneuership. 

Other international activities. Cooperation with Department of Bas Rhein (France) in the area of 

culture, education, sports, youth, social sphere, tourism and enterpreneuership. 


Local partners: 26 local municipalities, 8 rural partnerships (Abulas local partnership, Alūksne local 

partnership, Sateka, Vidzemes local partnership Brasla, Cēsis local partnership, Madona local 

foundation, From Salaca till Rūja partnership, Local partnership Ziemeļgauja), local NGO’S. 

Regional & Local Networks for innovation and internationalization: Business incubators (Valmiera, 

Gulbene, Cēsis, Madona), The Institute for Environmental Solutions, Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute. 

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VPR has developed LATINNOFOOD CLUSTER in Vidzeme region which consist of: Regional 

authority (Vidzeme Planning Region), Research entities (Riga Stradins University Research Institute 

of Biotechnology and Veterinary, Medicine “Sigra” of Latvia University of Agriculture, Vidzeme University 

of Applied Sciences, Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute, The Latvia State Institute of Fruit-Growing, The 

Institute for Environmental Solutions), Business entities (Ltd. “Aloja Starkelsen”, Farm “Kligeni”, JSC 

“Smiltenes piens”, Co-op company „Zaubes kooperativs”, Farm “Kelmeni”), Professional associations 

(Latvian Nutrition and Dietetics Association, Latvian Biological Agriculture Association, Latvian 

Meat Producers and Processors Association, Latvian Wild Animal Breeders Association, Latvian 

Fruit-grower Association), Financial entity: Mortgage bank “Hipoteku Banka”. 

European partners 

Innovation Circle Network s an international association working for the benefit of smaller and 

medium sized places in Northern Europe, aiming at making such places sustainable and more 

attractive. 

The network will strengthen transnational cooperation and enhance awareness about cultural diversity, 

political and religious traditions. The network will bring decision makers, specialists, business 

people, voluntary workers and youths from different countries together into development 

projects and events. There are partners from Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Estonia,Sweden, 

Finland, Russia. 

o 

NEEBOR as to increase the awareness of EU institutions, member states, regions and local authorities 

and the civil organizations on both sides of the borders of the weaknesses and strengths 

of the cross-border region. NEEBOR will serve as a platform for open dialogue and coordination 

of joint actions and initiatives in order to promote the exchange of good practices and enhance 

cooperation and synergies in the region. 

Budget and Staff 

- Staff – 15 employees 

- Budget, 2010 

Budget items 

Basic budget 

incl. Public transport function 

incl. Functions delegated by Ministry of Culture 

2010 (LVL) 

157 571,00 

40 000,00 

4000,00 

Project financing 317 274,00 

EU structural funds infocentre activities 21 759,00 

Ensuring public transport grant to cover losses of transport 

services providers 

2 888 228,00 

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o Main Activities: 


Level of Communication & dissemination activities on EU projects 

Regular dissemination of information to municipal politicians. 

Informative meetings and seminars. 

Providing information in the home page and continuous update of the home page in 

accordance with clients’ requests. 

Participation with presentations at events organized by other institutions. 

Personal meetings. 

Publications in newspapers and regional telecasts. 

Publications in information booklets of the projects, articles in the project websites. 

o Links to other regions in Europe 

VPR has cooperation with these organizations in EU projects and in development initiatives: 

Bas Rhein departament, France 

Valga County Council, Estonia 

Tartu County Council, Estonia 

Pskov Region Administration, Russia 

Ostergotland Regional Council, Sweeden 

Tampere Regional Council, Finland 


VPR internationalization strategy is a part of the strategy of the administration of Vidzeme planning 

region 2009-2013. 

VPR internationalization strategy is aimed at Exchange of experience and good practice and 

finding new joint solutions. 

The following aspects are important for the VPR internationalization strategy: 

integration in Europe research, development and innovation area (for example, through 

benchmarking, participation in international projects and conferences); 

establishment of a common understanding about Europe regions (for example, through 

exchange of experience, participation in international projects, workshops and conferences, 

involvement in regional co-operation initiatives); 

representation of regional interests on the national and European Union level (for example, 

through participation in the NEEBOR network, signing NEEBOR declarations, participation in 

the work of the EU Regional Committee, through participation in the Baltic Sea States 

Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC)). 

o Main difficulties and bottlenecks for internationalization 

Main barriers for stakeholders to participate in EU programmes: 

Limited possibilities to co-finance projects, therefore the expected impact of the projects is 

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evaluated very thoroughly and preference is given to those projects that contribute most to the 

promotion of territorial development. 

Shortage of knowledge about available funds and programmes that promote innovative 

economic development. Stakeholders are comparatively well informed about programmes and 

project competitions launched by different Latvian institutions, but thanks to the accession to 

the European Union, Latvia can use a great number of programmes administered by foreign 

countries and international institutions. Information about the programmes is available on the 

internet, but the majority of projects specialists in the Vidzeme region feel shortage of 

experience and knowledge how to use financial aid offered by the European Union and other 

foreign financial institutions. 

Sometimes, a psychological barrier is an obstacle, too, because people presume that it is very 

complicated to attract these financial resource 

Insufficient number of qualified and skilled specialists who are able to compile comparatively 

complicated and specific project applications and implement the projects afterwards. 

Main stimulating factors for participation in EU programmes: 

Development of human resources, including the work with young people, educational activities 

for adults, the development of infrastructure (business incubators, consultation centres, study 

premises of nature sciences at schools, industrial parks, technological parks, etc.), 

Social-economic and political activities (promotion of entrepreneurship, development of public 

opinion and innovation culture, promotion of technology transfer, promotion of export). 

In the current economic situation, when municipalities cannot implement projects of innovative 

economic development due to the shortage of financial resources, efficient use of the financial aid 

provided by the European Union and other financial sources is one of the preconditions of regional 

development. 

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Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences 


Secondary school graduates, anyone interested in further studies at college, bachelor, and master 

level in the offered disciplines in formal education and in raising their professional qualification in 

non-formal education. 


www.va.lv 

Email: info@va.lv, international@va.lv 

Address: 

Cesu iela 4, Valmiera, 

Latvia LV-4210 

Phone: +371 64207230 fax: +371 64207229 

o 

Main strategy 

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences is developing as an innovative regional centre for 

academic and professional higher education and research. 


Business, information technologies, political science, communication and public relations, media 

studies and journalism, tourism, languages. 

Vidzeme region, Latvia, Baltic Countries and Western Russia, EU, USA, Former Soviet Union 

Countries. 

EU-Programmes 

 

 

Erasmus – students and staff exchange, common projects 

Leonardo da Vinci, Gruntvig, Interreg IVA Central Baltic Innovation Tools for Practice, 

Norwegian Financial Instrument, ERAF 

Other internationalization activities 

Summer school, international conferences, seminars, internationalization at home, networking, cooperation 

with companies and professional organizations abroad. 

o Main Activities 

Studies – formal education, adult education, non-formal education 

Research, conferences, seminars, different cooperation projects with its stakeholders 

o Structure: 

Main Stakeholders: State, municipality 

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Level of Public & Private Partnership: approximately 1/3 state and municipality funding, 1/3 private 

funding (study fees and other services), 1/3 project funding 


Degree of international networking activities as part of the overall activities 

Active participation in the following networks: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATLAS - Association for Tourism and Leisure Education 

EUPRERA - European Public Relations Education and Research Association 

EAIE - European Association of International Education 

Baltic Sea Network 

EkoTekNord – Nordplus programme network for cooperation in Baltic and Nordic countries 

EUCEN – European Association for University Lifelong Learning 

ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION – Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between 

Cultures 

Relations with other internationalization support organizations in the region 

Cooperation with local municipalities: Valmiera, Cesis 

Vidzeme Region Planning Agency 

Valmiera Business and Innovations Incubator 

 

Interests in further EU co-operation and programmes: different Life long learning programmes 

for mobility activities, study program development, research, cooperation between universities and 

enterprises, summer schools, adult education, non-formal education, improvement of infrastructure. 

Links to other universities in Europe: 76 cooperation agreements with the universities in EU and 

outside, 33 active Erasmus cooperation agreements (at least one mobility is implemented during 

2009-10), 76 active cooperation agreements including cooperation outside EU and agreements 

with enterprises for students’ internships. 

Share of foreign students: only exchange students and short term studies – summer school, 48 

students, approximately 3,5% out of total student number. 

Internationalization strategies: integrated in the existing general strategy, no formal internationalization 

strategy yet, in working process. 


Main Results Indicators used to measure success: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of study programmes 

Numbers of students or participants in non-formal education; 

Number of doctors out of total teaching staff 

Number of graduates 

Number of teaching staff’s publications 

% of graduates having experience in studies or research abroad 

Number of active international cooperation agreements 

Results at the international level for 2009-2010: 

 

 

 

 

Almost 30% of 2010 graduates has had mobility experience abroad 

Holder of Diploma Supplement label awarded by European Commission 

Included in Erasmus Success stories 2010 brochure for its mobility activities 

76 active partnerships, 12 of them are top 500 universities in the world 

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o Main difficulties & bottlenecks 

Normative documents and state regulations, restrictions for state universities 

1.10.Partnerships: 

The role of the Local Development Agents: only on individual project basis 

Regional & Local Network for innovation and Internationalization: only on individual project basis 

European Partners: Erasmus cooperation agreements, network partners, companies and organizations 

for students internships. 

1.11.Budget and Staff 

Number and background of staff: 149 total staff, out of this: 56 full time teaching staff, 26 visiting 

teaching staff, 67 administrative staff 

Level of public support: approximately 1/3 of total budged. 

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CHAPTER 3 

MAIN OBSTACLES FOR 

COOPERATION 

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Main barriers and obstacles to co-operation 

In recent years a number of studies have focused on barriers to internationalisation of companies. 

These barriers can be categorised into five broad areas: financial, managerial, market based (including 

both the domestic and international markets), industry specific and firm specific barriers to co-operation. 

These barriers to internationalisation can operate at any stage of the internationalisation process, but 

they can vary in intensity, depending on the degree of internationalisation of the individual firm. 

Since the Interregional Partnership Platform is not only directed at the business sector, but also to the 

public administration and other institutions, it is necessary to categorise these barriers in a different 

format alongside micro (or individual) and macro level barriers: 

o 

Micro-level Barriers 

managerial attitudes in the company or institution 

cost of co-operation for the company or institution 

lack of information regarding available programmes and co-operation partners 

lack of international experience & skills of staff 

lack of commitment of the institution or company 

lack of partnerships at local and international level 

limited own resources 

size of the company or organisation 

o 

Macro-level Barriers 

limited access to capital for international co-operation 

financial barriers in general 

legal obstacles to co-operation 

overall economic conditions 

lack of knowledge of administrative framework conditions 

cultural differences 

access and availability of information sources 

The IPP regions have carried out a survey to investigate the main barriers to internationalization and to 

international co-operations. 

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Rank Saxony-Anhalt Latvia Eszak-Alföld Valencia 

1) Difficult application 

procedure 

Long period of 

applications 

reviewing 

Pre-financing 

Difficult application 

procedure 

2) Lack of 

co-financing budget 

Long period of 

receiving financing 

for previous period 

Lack of 


Pre-financing 

3) Lack of money for 

professional 

assistance 

Lack of 



procedure 

Lack of 


4) Lack of Information 

about EU 

Programmes 

Lack of money for 

professional 

assistance 

Low chance of 

success for 

applicants 


professional 

assistance 

5) Pre-financing Not enough 

employees 

Lack of Information 

about EU 

Programmes 

Lack of experience 

in EU project 

management 

6) Not enough 

employees 


procedures 

Lack of foreign 

project partners 

Lack of English 

knowledge skills 

7) Lack of experience 

in EU project 

management 

Low chance of 

success for 

applicants 


professional 

assistance 

Not enough 

employees 

8) Low chance of 

success for 

applicants 



Lack of experience 

in EU project 

management 


about EU 

Programmes 

9) Lack of English 


Short terms of calls 

Not enough 

employees 

Low chance of 

success for 

applicants 

10) Lack of foreign 



about EU 

Programmes 

Lack of English 




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According to the overall results of the surveys in the IPP partner regions the following obstacles for 

internationalization were identified: 

o 

Micro-level Barriers 

Access to information 

Lack of Needs regarding management skills 

Limited experience 

Lack of co-financing and pre-financing 

Sparse resources for professional assistance 

Shortage of qualified staff 

Need for reliable partnerships 

o 

Macro-level Barriers 

limited access to capital and credit for international co-operation 

lack of national co-financing and pre-financing possibilities 

complicated application procedures of EU programmes and initiatives 

lack of lobbying 

The following tools to active participation in European Programmes were part of the tools used by IPP 

regions for their own projects: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

projects aimed to build capacity in municipalities and improve the capacity of municipal 

employees 

organisation of co-operation and development events 

dissemination or regional success stories 

ensuring co-operation in entrepreneurship 

supporting to implementation of regional co-operation projects 

providing consultation in preparation of project applications 

IT tools for easier information access/search 

clarification of existing needs and the ways to satisfy the needs via projects 

How to assess obstacles for co-operation 57 

In order to improve the degree of internationalization of institutions and companies in the IPP regions, it 

is important to assess the existing obstacles for co-operation. 

In the region of Saxony-Anhalt, this analysis has been carried out by the EEN, within the context of the 

IPP project. The analysis mainly concentrates on Saxony-Anhalt’s smaller and medium-sized 

companies, and shows their obstacles in the interregional co-operation. 

57 “Regionale Rahmendaten zur EU- Projektaffinität von Unternehmen und Institutionen in Sachsen-Anhalt”, tti 

Technologietransfer und Innovationsförderung Magdeburg GmbH, Februar 2011. 

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For this purpose, EEN Magdeburg generated an electronic questionnaire that was sent to 1,000 

companies in the region. Additionally, interviews were held to gain more information. The questions 

were answered by ten percent of the companies, which makes the aquisition of data representative. 

In the following, some key finding of the analysis are stated. 

in Saxony-Anhalt the majority of companies are involved in some kind of international activity, mostly 

through import and export, and R&D. For almost 94% of the companies, co-operation took place with 

European partners. The reasons for this are the advantages of the joined economic area and the 

geographical nearness. Companies that are involved in the international co-operation rarely use 

economic development schemes suggested by the EU, but they prefer schemes made by the German 

State or the Länder. This is the case because State programs are often experienced as closer to the 

needs and requirements of the companies. Another problem pointed out by the analysis is that most 

companies do not know all the different EU programs, the possible gains or the effort it takes to take 

part in them. When companies were asked why they hesitate to apply for EU subsidies, the most 

frequent answers were the interminable application procedure, the little probability to succeed, high 

costs and language problems. Similar obstacles were mentioned by those companies that were not 

been involved in any kind of international activity yet. They said that the main reasons for this were the 

unlikeliness of success, the communication problems (especially concerning the language) and the lack 

of co-operation partners. 

The analysis comes to the conclusion that the number of obstacles often leads to the fact that 

companies are not motivated to apply for EU subsidies. Furthermore, they do not feel well informed 

about existing programs, and need support in finding the right program and in implementing the 

application procedure. 

The State Regional Development Agency of Latvia carried out the survey to see how well 

municipalities, universities and NGOs are informed about opportunities to participate in EU programmes 

and initiatives, what is the current activity, in which programmes they would like to participate in the 

future, what are the main obstacles and suggestions for participation. The main conclusions: 

o Best-known EU programmes are education and regional cooperation programmes. This 

marks the availability of information and contact points in Latvia. The programmes where the 

submission of projects is in Latvia are better known and used than the programmes, where the 

submission of projects organized directly to the European Commission. 

o Analyzing the geographical location of partners, most of the respondents work with the EU 

countries, only 30% are working with other countries like Soviet Union countries and quite rare - 

the U.S. and China. Respondents most often selected geographically closer countries - Estonia, 

Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Poland and Sweden, which is also the main Latvian export countries. 

o Rather low is the activity in international associations and networks. The most common form 

of cooperation used by municipalities is the partnerships with other state’s authorities (twinning 

cities). A positive feature is that nearly 31% of the respondents trying to find the partners to pro- 

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mote the business sector. This could be due to the fact that one of the priorities in the territorial 

and cross-border cooperation programmes is the development of innovation and business. 

o Local governments’ assessment of the main obstacle to participation in EU programmess is 

the funding to attract adviseres. This implies a lack of local experience in the preparation of an 

international projects, which is time-consuming process and requires certain human resources 

and project preparation and management skills, as well as knowledge of foreign languages. On 

the main barriers are considered insufficient number of staff and difficulties in finding suitable 

project partners. It is also mentioned in both the long processing time for projects proposals, as 

well as an ongoing process for the reimbursement of expenses incurred in project reporting periods. 

o Among universities as a major disincentive is being referred to a long period of receiving the 

funding about the reporting periods, and very comparable assessment is referred to obstructions, 

such as long processing time for projects, lack of funding the project preparation consultants, 

short calls and a low amount of available funding. 

o NGOs as one of the main obstacles pointed the long project evaluation time and a low amount 

of available funding. 

o The larger benefits of participation in international projects and activities are the new experience 

and contacts, new ideas and training. Of minor benefit is the possibility of obtaining additional 

funding. 

o Most respondents acknowledge that very important is the availability of information about the 

EU programmes, as well as whether the programmes available to meet the real needs. 

o As the most effective instrument of communication on EU programmes are evaluated the information 

in web sites, individual consultations and face to face meetings at seminars and conferences. 

Individual consultancies are particularly highlighted in the regional and cross-border 

cooperation programmes. The survey shows that the brochures and newsletters, information in 

radio and TV is on the smallest role. 

o Despite the fact that there are several Internet sites where is possible to find information on 

various EU programs as one of the key recommendations is a single portal. This shows that no 

existing site does not provide full information on the Latvian partners access to EU programmes 

and initiatives. Another key recommendation is the need to organize regular seminars on current 

programmes. 

Taking into account the results of the survey it could be recommended: 

1) to ensure a wider and more targeted information about the EU programmes and initiatives, 

which projects must be submitted directly to the European Commission; 

2) to implement activities providing support for project preparation and implementation skills; 

3) to implement the tools for finding international partners; 

4) to reduce the administrative burdens and red tape of international projects implementation; 

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5) to improve information on the various EU programmes, finding opportunities, such as creating a 

single portal; 

6) to develop new tools and solutions to strategic participation in EU programmes and initiatives, 

such as: 

• incorporation of international cooperation components of the EU Structural Funds 

Programmes financed through the next programming period; 

• increasing the quality and accessibility of EU programmes and initiatives in the regions; 

• raising awareness of international cooperation and international project benefits by 

showing examples of good practice. 

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CHAPTER 4 

BENCHMARKS FOR THE 

IPP REGIONS 

ON INTERNATIONALIZATION 

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Benchmark for the IPP regions 

A Benchmarking model measuring the level of internationalization of IPP regions has to be based on a 

sound statistical basis and a set of indicators which allow some meaningful conclusions. It is therefore 

suggested to rely largely on the statistical information out the recently published fifth report on 

economic, social and territorial cohesion58 and to take the following criteria for the IPP Benchmark for 

measuring the level of internationalization into account: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

participation in European Co-operation programmes taking into account the following EU 

programmes: INTERREG IV C, LIFE, 6th and 7th Framework Programme; Intelligent Energy 

Europe, … 

joined thematic challenges of the regions based on the key criteria of the Europe 2020 strategy. 

level of planned investment in the current Structural Funds Programmes important for 

internationalization such as: the level of human capital investment and the planned investment in 

RTD, innovation and enterprise environment 

overall economic performance of the regions measured in GDP/head, productivity growth and 

labour productivity. 

overall social situation in the participating region taking into account change in unemployment rate, 

rate of long term unemployment, population growth, net-migration and population born outside the 

EU 

level of inter-connectivity measured in the level of broadband connectivity, development of foreign 

trade and other indicators. 

The data is compared between the IPP partners and the top performers in three of the four Member 

States. 

Participation in the following European Co-operation programmes: 6 th and 7 th Framework Programmes, 

INTERREG IV C, LIFE+; Intelligent Energy Europe 

One key indicator for the level of internationalization in a region is the level of participation in EU cooperation 

programmes. Based on an analysis of the regional offices of the IPP regions in Brussels a 

number of EU programmes were analysed. 

58 http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/cohesion5/index_en.cfm 

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6 th Framework Programme, 

average funding per head 

Index, EU-27 = 100 average funding 

per head 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 29 

ES52 Comunidad Valenciana 65 

LV00 Latvija 16 

HU32 Észak-Alföld 12 

Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / 

Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest 737 Max in EU 

BE10 

DE21 Oberbayern 705 Max in D 

ES30 Comunidad de Madrid 222 Max in E 

HU10 Közép-Magyarország 114 Max in H 

Source: DG RTD, DG REGIO 

calculations 

7th Framework Programme, 

Index, EU-27 = 100 average funding 

per head 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 27 

ES52 Comunidad Valenciana 41 

LV00 Latvija 17 

HU32 Észak-Alföld 13 

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and 

Oxfordshire 625 Max in EU 

UKJ1 

DE21 Oberbayern 505 Max in D 

ES21 País Vasco 204 Max in E 

HU10 Közép-Magyarország 109 Max in H 

Source: DG RTD, DG REGIO 

calculations 

INTERREG IVC No. of No. of successful Total budget of EU support for 

applications from applications from successful successful 

IPP region IPP region application application 

Saxony-Anhalt 13 6 2,114,859.55 1,586,144.65 

Valencia 89 9 2,236,389.67 1,677,292.25 

Eszak-Alföld 49 13 2,558,350.07 2,174,597.55 

Latvia 75 11 1,595,527.96 1,356,198.75 

Source: Information of the JTS of the INTERREG IV C Programme 

INTERREG IVB No. of No. of successful Total budget of EU support for 

applications from applications from successful successful 

IPP region IPP region application application 

Saxony-Anhalt 37 13 N.A. N.A. 

Valencia 

Eszak-Alföld 11 

Latvia 0 53 59 0 0 

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Source: Information needed from partners 

LIFE+ 2007 

No. of successful Total budget of successful 

EU support for successful 

applications from application 

application 

IPP region 

Saxony-Anhalt 2 38,414,805.00 17,932,122.00 

Valencia 7 45,440,987.00 21,338,919.00 

Eszak-Alföld 1 1,606,978.00 1,205234.00 

Latvia 2 34,944,925.00 16,384,178.00 

Source:http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm 

LIFE+ 2008 


EU support for 


successful application 

IPP region 

Saxony-Anhalt 1 2,184,912.00 1,092,456.00 

Valencia 10 16,754,640.00 7,078,055.00 

Eszak-Alföld 1 969,090.00 401,737.00 

Latvia 2 1,388,954.00 874,305.00 

Source:http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm 

LIFE+ 2009 




application 

IPP region 

Saxony-Anhalt 

Valencia 4 11,244,606.00 2,619,264.00 

Eszak-Alföld 

Latvia 4 8,317,348.00 4,523,622.00 

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm 

INTELLIGENT 

ENERGY 

EUROPE 

2007 




IPP region 

application 

Saxony-Anhalt 1 617,185.00 308,592.50 

Valencia 8 7,421,941.00 4,946,644.04 

Eszak-Alföld 0 - - 

Latvia 11 16,103,116.00 10,218,480.00 

Source: http://ieea.erba.hu/ieea/page/Page.jsp?op=home 

INTELLIGENT 

ENERGY 

EUROPE 

2008 




IPP region 

application 

Saxony-Anhalt 0 - - 

Valencia 2 2,750,826.00 2,063,119.50 

North Great Plains 0 - - 

Latvia 5 8,148,809.00 6,850,395.00 

Source:http://ieea.erba.hu/ieea/page/Page.jsp?op=home 

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INTELLIGENT 

ENERGY 

EUROPE 

2009 




IPP region 

application 

Saxony-Anhalt 0 - - 

Valencia 0 - - 

Eszak-Alföld 2 2,161,807.00 1,621,355.25 

Latvia 5 6,978,781.00 5,234,086.65 

Source: http://ieea.erba.hu/ieea/page/Page.jsp?op=home 

Key findings: 

The data on the participation of IPP regions in a selected number of EU- programmes leads to the following 

conclusions: 

o 

With regard to the Research Framework Programme Valencia was able to acquire 65 percent of 

the EU-27 average funding per head in the 6 th Research Framework Programme, which is almost 

twice as much then any other IPP region. However during the 7 th Research Framework Programme 

Valencia was only able to acquire 41% of the EU-27 average. In all IPP regions the acquisition 

figures for funding stay way behind the national lead region or the European lead regions which 

have acquired between 3 and nearly 25 (!) times more then the IPP regions. This underlines on the 

one hand the large concentration of EU-research funding on only a very limited number of regions 

in Europe. It also shows however the potential scope for the IPP regions to gain bigger access in 

the European Research funding if their research institutions would put more effort and emphasis on 

participating in these programmes. 

o 

With regard to INTERREG IV C it can be stated that almost all IPP regions – given their individual 

size – have acquired in relative terms similar amounts of EU funds. There were however striking 

differences in the strategies used to apply for the funds. Saxony-Anhalt and partly also North Great 

Plains had a much higher success ratio between applied projects and granted projects. The 

Saxony-Anhalt ratio was 46% whereas the ratio of successful projects with regard to applied 

projects for Valencia was just 10%. There seem to be strong differences in the application 

strategies between the regions which largely determine their success rate. Saxony-Anhalt was 

successful in applying with projects including a strong role for the regional government (i.e. as Lead 

Partners) whereby local authorities in Saxony-Anhalt were largely absent to take part in 

INTERREG applications. 

o 

With regard to the LIFE+ programme it is a totally different story. Whereby Valencia managed to 

succeed with 21 applications, North Great Plains only managed 2 and Saxony-Anhalt only 

managed 3 successful applications in the calls of 2007, 2008 and 2009. Latvia had 8 successful 

applications. However in the 2007 call Saxony-Anhalt managed to acquire with 2 successful 

applications an EU support of nearly 18 Mio. Euro. Valencia managed with its 21 successful bids a 

total EU support of around 30.5 Mio. Euro. 

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o 

With regard to INTELLIGENT ENERGY Latvia has been most successful in the 2007, 2008 and 

2009 calls with 21 successful applications and a total EU support of more then 22 Mio. EURO. 

Valencia was also very successful in the 2007 and 2008 calls but did not manage to score in the 

2009 call. Saxony-Anhalt only managed to have 1 successful application in the three years and 

Eszak-Alföld was only successful in the last call in 2009 with two successful projects. 

These data show that all IPP regions have particular strength in accessing a limited number of EUprogrammes. 

It would be important in the future development of the IPP benchmark to identify these 

specific strengths and share these experiences with other IPP regions to lift the general level of 

participation in the EU programmes of the IPP regions. 

Before examining further criteria of internationalization in the different IPP regions, here a short excursus 

to the region of Latvia: 

Starting the work on benchmarking report it was concluded that there are no available summarized 

information about all EU programmes implemented in Latvia. In order to collect the information about 

the participation level of Latvia in EU programmes the study was carried out including questioning all 

the institutions and organizations which are responsible of implementation of EU programmes and 

initiatives (national agencies, national contact points, information centres etc). 29 institutions and 

organizations were included in this survey to get the information on the number of submitted and 

approved projects in each programme during the period of 2007-2010, the barriers and stimulating 

factors for more active participation and the best practice examples. 

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Nr. 

Name of programme 

No. of project 

applications, 

2007-2010 

No. of approved projects, 

2007-2010 

Lead 

partner 

Partner 

Lead 

partner Partner Total 

1. EU Lifelong Learning Programmes: 2242 903 1310 328 1638 

1.1. COMENIUS 1166 524 669 222 891 

1.2. Leonardo da Vinci 999 116 619 19 638 

1.3. GRUNDTVIG 77 263 22 87 109 

2. Cross Border Cooperation programmes: 370 735 90 211 301 

2.1. 

Latvia–Lithuania Cross Border Cooperation 

Programme: 184 501 37 142 179 

2.2. Estonia – Latvia Programme 118 65 26 25 51 

2.3. 

Central Baltic Interreg IVA Programme (2007- 

2013) 42 85 20 33 53 

2.4. Latvia-Lithuania-Belarussia 26 84 7 11 18 

2.5. 

Estonia-Latvia-Russia ENPI Cross Border 

Cooperation Programme n/a n/a n/a n/a 

3 7th Framework Programme 192 450 32 113 145 

4 Europe for Citizens n/a 39 92 131 

5 MEDIA Desk Latvia 65 45 53 38 91 

6 COST 1 53 1 53 54 

7 Baltic Sea Region programme 2 51 53 

8 Intelligent Energy Europe n/a n/a 1 52 53 

9 Culture 2007-2013 n/a n/a 14 22 36 

10 EUREKA 13 5 12 3 15 

11 ERASMUS (Intensive programmes) 13 n/a 13 n/a 13 

14 INTERREG IVC 75 1 11 12 

15 Preventing and Combating Crime 17 2 8 2 10 

16 Life+ 18 5 2 7 

17 Daphne III 1 14 0 7 7 

18 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme 5 5 

19 TWINNING 24 15 1 4 5 

20 External Borders Fund 4 1 4 1 5 

21 URBACT II 0 3 3 

22 ESPON 0 3 3 

23 ERA-NET Plus Bonus+ 1 19 0 2 2 

24 Civil Protection Action Programme 1 0 1 0 1 

25 ARTEMIS 0 2 0 1 1 

26 IMI 1 2 0 0 0 

27 Youth in Action 1273 n/a 422 n/a 422 

31 eTwinning 452 452 452 

Joint thematic challenges of the regions based on the key criteria of the Europe 2020 strategy 

The recently launched Europe 2020 strategy is based on a number of key indicators which should be 

achieved until 2020 such as: 

Employment: 

75% of the 20-64 year-olds to be employed 

R&D / innovation: 3% of the EU's GDP (public and private combined) to be invested in 

R&D/innovation 

Education Reducing school drop-out rates below 10% and at least 40% of 30-34– 

year-olds completing third level education (or equivalent) 

To meet these targets provides a significant challenge for the European regions and in particularly also 

for the IPP regions as the following data shows: 

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Employment rate, 20-64, in 2008 and distance to the Europe 2020 target 

Distance to the 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

Employment rate, 

2008 in 

% of population 

between 20-64 

Europe 2020 

target in 

thousands of 

employed 

EU-27 European Union 70,5 13.642 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 71,3 53 

ES52 Comunidad Valenciana 69,0 188 

LV00 Latvija 75,8 

HU32 Észak-Alföld 55,2 182 

SE11 Stockholm 83,2 Max in EU 

DE22 Niederbayern 81,0 Max in D 

ES24 Aragón 74,4 5 Max in E 

HU10 Közép-Magyarország 67,8 131 Max in H 

The Europe 2020 employment rate target is 75% 

Source: Eurostat, DG REGIO 

Total expenditure on R&D, 2007 (Europe 2020 target: 3 % of total expenditure on R&D) 

% of regional GDP 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 1,13 

ES52 Comunidad Valenciana 0,95 


HU32 Észak-Alföld 0,85 

DE91 Braunschweig 6,77 Max in D and EU 

ES30 Comunidad de Madrid 1,92 Max in E 

HU10 Közép-Magyarország 1,33 Max in H 

EL, IT: 2005; FR: 2004; NL: 2003 

The Europe 2020 R&D target is 3% 

Source: Eurostat 

Early school leavers aged 18-24 in 2007- 2009 

The Europe 2020 target for early school leavers aged 18-24 is 10% 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Early school leavers aged 

18-24, 2007-2009 in % of 

population aged 18-24 

EU27 European Union 14,8 





CZ01 Praha 2,6 Max in EU 

DED1 Chemnitz 5,5 Max in D 

ES21 País Vasco 15,0 Max in E 



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Population aged 30-34 with a tertiary education in 2008 and 

distance to the Europe 2020 target 

The Europe 2020 target for the share of population aged 30-34 with tertiary education is 40% 

NUTS 

CODE 

NUTS NAME 

Population aged 30-34 

with tertiary education, 

2008 in 

% of population aged 

30-34 

Distance to de 

Europe 2020 target 

(thousands of 

persons) 

EU-27 European Union 31,1 3.576,0 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 18,85 24,8 

ES52 Comunidad Valenciana 36,51 16,0 

LV00 Latvija 26,97 20,6 

HU32 Észak-Alföld 16,28 27,7 

DK01 Hovedstaden 58,57 Max in EU 

DED2 Dresden 40,57 Max in D 


HU10 Közép-Magyarország 31,92 21,5 Max in H 

Source: Eurostat, DG REGIO ISCED levels 5 and 6 

Key findings: 

The benchmark data for the Europe 2020 targets show how enormous the tasks in meeting these targets 

for the IPP regions are: 

o 

With regard to the employment rate target the employment rate in Eszak-Alföld has to be 

increased by nearly 20% points or 182.000 new jobs to meet the 75% target. All other IPP regions 

are in the range of 5% of the target or are even slightly above the target as in Latvia. Although due 

to the economic situation the employment rate in Latvia was only 60% in 2009. 

o 

With regard to the R&D spending target the total expenditures on R&D in the IPP regions fall short 

of the 3 % target. While Saxony-Anhalt manages in 2007 1,13% the level in Latvia is only 0,59%. 

However the national benchmark in Germany is nearly 6 times higher (Braunschweig) then the 

level in Saxony-Anhalt. 

o 

With regard to the early school leavers target of below 10% all IPP regions except Valencia are 

well in the reach of meeting this target. Valencia however – as many other Spanish regions – has a 

huge task ahead in reducing the drop-out rate onto a third of the current figure. 

o 

With regard to the population target in tertiary education Valencia is already now within reach of 

the 40% figure with currently 36,51% whereas Saxony-Anhalt and Eszak-Alföld have a huge 

mountain to climb to reduce the gap of currently 21,15 resp. 23,72 percentage points in the years 

to come. 

These figures show that each IPP-region has strengths and weaknesses in meeting the Europe 2020 

targets. The European Commission is currently preparing a number of new initiatives to address the 

Europe 2020 challenges (i.e. by developing a number of flagship initiatives). It can therefore be 

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expected that EU funding instruments will be focused on these challenges providing IPP regions new 

opportunities for finding EU support. The differences in high and low performance of IPP region provide 

also plenty of scope for interregional co-operation. 

Planned investment in the current Structural Funds Programmes for RTD, innovation and enterprise 

environment and human capital investment in the IPP regions 

Planned investments of Cohesion Policy in RTD, innovation, 

enterprise environment, 2007-2013 

Funding for RTD, innovation and enterprise amounts to some EUR 79 billion 

% of total funding 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Planned investments of Cohesion 

Policy in RTD, innovation, 

enterprise environment, 2007-2013 

EU-27 European Union 23,0 





Source: DG REGIO 

Planned investments of Cohesion Policy in human capital, 2007-2013 

Funding for human capital amounts to some EUR 68 billion 

% of total funding 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Planned investments of 

Cohesion Policy in human 

capital, 2007-2013 






Source: DG REGIO 

Key findings: 

The benchmark data referring the priorities of Structural Funds intervention in the IPP regions shows, 

that Valencia and Saxony-Anhalt strongly focus on research and innovation by devoting 30.7% or even 

36,0% of their Structural funds for investments in this field. 

This is also reflected by the high level of funding for human capital investment in both regions whereas 

Latvia and Eszak-Alföld put much focus on other areas such as infrastructure development to overcome 

the development gap. It also has to be taken into account that Saxony-Anhalt is neighbouring highly 

competitive Western German regions which requires more investment in improving competitiveness in 

the region. 

Due to this different development pattern it can be assumed that Saxony-Anhalt and Valencia are 

currently more focused on strengthening innovation, skills and research focus whereas Latvia and 

Eszak-Alföld largely focus their Structural Funds efforts to provide the essential infrastructure for 

regional development. 

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Economic performance of the regions measured in GDP/head, productivity growth and labour 

productivity 

Growth of GDP per head in real terms, 2000-2007 

Annual average % change 


Comunidad 

Valenciana 0,74 

ES52 



LV00 Latvija 9,58 Max in EU 


ES43 Extremadura 3,32 Max in E 



Change in regional GDP per head (PPS), 1995-2007 

Index, EU-27 = 100 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

GDP per head 

(PPS) – 1995: 

index EU-27=100 

GDP per 

head (PPS) – 

2007: 

index EU- 

27=100 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt 80,0 83,6 

ES52 

Comunidad 

Valenciana 87,3 95,3 

LV00 Latvija 31,4 55,7 

HU32 Észak-Alföld 37,8 39,4 

LU00 

Luxembourg (Grand- 

Duché) 222,7 275,2 Max in EU 

DE60 Hamburg 216,4 192,0 Max in D 

ES21 País Vasco 109,4 136,8 Max in E 

HU10 Közép-Magyarország 73,2 102,9 Max in H 

Productivity growth within sectors, 2000-2007 

Increase in average productivity due to higher productivity within sectors 

Productivity growth 

within sectors, 2000- 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

2007 



ES52 Comunidad Valenciana -0,60 



RO42 Vest 7,57 Max in EU 


ES43 Extremadura 0,70 Max in E 

HU31 Észak-Magyarország 2,90 Max in H 


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Labour productivity in industry and services, 2007 

GVA per person employed in industry and services, EU-27 = 100 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

Labour productivity in 

industry and services, 

2007 





UKI1 Inner London 296,6 Max in EU 

DE60 Hamburg 135,4 Max in D 



Source: Eurostat, UKN0: 2005 

Patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO), average 2006-2007 

Provisional data – Applications per million inhabitants 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

Patent applications to 

the European Patent 

Office (EPO), average 

2006-2007 




LV Latvija 23,2 


NL41 Noord-Brabant 1.735,5 Max in EU 

DE11 Stuttgart 1.481,4 Max in D 

ES22 Comunidad Foral de Navarra 220,8 Max in E 


Source: OECD REGPAT database January 2010, Eurostat, DG REGIO 

Key findings: 

The benchmark figures on the economic performance of the IPP regions show a clear pattern of 

catching up processes in the new Member States regions. This is reflected in the impressive GDP 

growth over the last decade (before the financial crisis) as well as with regard to productivity growth. 

The figures also show huge differences of GDP/head between the IPP regions and their national 

champions. 

The figures on productivity growth also give an indication on the development of the competitiveness of 

industry and services in the IPP regions. The figures on patent applications underline these findings. 

They can give an indication of the current R&D potential in the region. Due to the very low performance 

of the IPP regions it can be argued to mainly focus on applied sciences and innovation when increasing 

the level of internationalization and participation in European programmes. 

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Social situation in the participating region taking into account change in unemployment rate, 

rate of long term and youth unemployment, population growth, net-migration and population 

born outside the EU 

Change in unemployment rate, 2000-2008 

Percentage points change 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Change in unemployment rate, 2000-2008 

EU-27 European Union -2,20 

DEE0 Sachsen-Anhalt -5,60 


LV00 Latvija -6,70 



Long-term unemployment rate, 2008 in % of labour force 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Long-term unemployment rate, 2008 







Youth unemployment rate, 2008 in % of labour force aged 15-24 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Youth unemployment rate, 2008 







Net migration into NUTS 3 regions, 2001-2007 

Per thousand inhabitants (annual average) 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Net migration into NUTS 3 regions, 2001-2007 


Saxony-Anhalt 

Dessau-Roßlau, Kreisfreie 

DEE01 

Stadt -9,49 

Halle (Saale), Kreisfreie 

Stadt -5,12 

DEE02 

DEE03 Magdeburg, Kreisfreie Stadt 2,09 

DEE04 Altmarkkreis Salzwedel -7,59 

DEE05 Anhalt-Bitterfeld -10,65 

DEE06 Jerichower Land -7,01 

DEE07 Börde -4,11 

DEE08 Burgenland (D) -7,35 

DEE09 Harz -5,96 

DEE0A Mansfeld-Südharz -9,33 

DEE0B Saalekreis -5,34 

DEE0C Salzland -9,53 

DEE0D Stendal -9,71 

DEE0E Wittenberg -9,12 

Valencia 

ES521 Alicante / Alacant 34,81 

ES522 Castellón / Castelló 25,69 

ES523 Valencia / València 16,69 

Latvia 

LV003 Kurzeme -3,32 

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LV005 Latgale -4,37 

LV006 Rīga -3,10 

LV007 Pierīga 11,94 

LV008 Vidzeme -4,95 

LV009 Zemgale -0,20 

Eszak-Alföld 

HU321 Hajdú-Bihar -0,88 

HU322 Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok -3,02 

HU323 Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg -3,15 

Source: Eurostat, ESPON 

DE: 2003-2007; UK: 2001- 

2003 


Natural population growth, 2001-2007 

Per thousand inhabitants (annual average) 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Natural population growth, 2001-2007 


Saxony-Anhalt 

Dessau-Roßlau, Kreisfreie 

DEE01 

Stadt -5,76 

Halle (Saale), Kreisfreie 

Stadt -2,93 

DEE02 

DEE03 Magdeburg, Kreisfreie Stadt -3,76 

DEE04 Altmarkkreis Salzwedel -3,79 

DEE05 Anhalt-Bitterfeld -5,48 

DEE06 Jerichower Land -4,52 

DEE07 Börde -5,15 

DEE08 Burgenland (D) -5,96 

DEE09 Harz -4,49 

DEE0A Mansfeld-Südharz -6,13 

DEE0B Saalekreis -3,82 

DEE0C Salzland -6,23 

DEE0D Stendal -4,24 

DEE0E Wittenberg -5,43 

Valencia 

ES521 Alicante / Alacant 2,57 

ES522 Castellón / Castelló 1,93 

ES523 Valencia / València 1,81 

Latvia 

LV003 Kurzeme -4,07 

LV005 Latgale -9,12 

LV006 Rīga -4,38 

LV007 Pierīga -3,04 

LV008 Vidzeme -5,34 

LV009 Zemgale -4,43 

Eszak-Alföld 

HU321 Hajdú-Bihar -1,83 

HU322 Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok -4,53 

HU323 Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg -1,18 

Source: Eurostat, ESPON 

DE: 2003-2007; UK: 2001- 

2003 

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Change in employment rate, 20-64, 2000-2008 (percentage point change) 

Change in 

employment rate, 20- 

NUTS CODE 

NUTS NAME 

64, 2000-2008 






FR83 Corse 16,2 Max in EU 

DE42 Brandenburg - Südwest 10,4 Max in D 

ES13 Cantabria 13,0 Max in E 



Population aged 15-64 born outside the EU, 2008 

% of population aged 15-64 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME Population aged 15-64 born outside the EU, 

2008 








Germany is based non-EU 

citizenship 

Key findings: 

The data on the social situation in the IPP regions show significant differences in the performance of the 

IPP regions: 

Saxony-Anhalt and Latvia have an impressive record in reducing the level of unemployment between 

2000 and 2008 by 5,6% or even 6,7% whereby Eszak-Alföld saw an increase of unemployment in the 

same time of 2,8%. 

With regard to long-term unemployment the picture is different. While Valencia and Latvia stay below 

the EU average of 2,6% Eszak-Alföld and Saxony-Anhalt exceed this average with 5,85% or even 

9,26%. %. The current situation in Latvia is different – in 2010 December the unemployment was 14,3% 

although gradually it is decreasing. 

With regard to youth unemployment Valencia and Eszak-Alföld have the biggest challenge whereby 

their figures of 26,4% and 28,3% lay way ahead the EU average of 15,6%. 

Stark contrasts are also eminent with regard to population growth. Whereby all IPP regions except 

Valencia suffered between 2001-2007population losses in the range of 1% – 9% Valencia had an 

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increase of population of around 2%. However the development of the employment rate of population 

between 20-64 years remained positive in the IPP regions over the period 2000-2008. 

With regard to immigration Latvia and Valencia had a share of population aged 15-64 who was born 

outside the EU of 11,17% and even 14,64%. Whereas this share lies in Saxony-Anhalt at 1,17% and in 

Eszak-Alföld at 0,53%. 

With regard to an overall analysis of demographic trends it is important to take into account future 

trends of population change and its impact on the available workforce. In this context the available date 

of the Cohesion Report is providing not the full picture. In future an analysis of trend-scenarios will be 

important. A shrinking population combined with a low immigration rate and its potential impact on the 

employment rate in the future will have a strong impact on the future economic capability of a region. 

Therefore efforts are needed to maintain a high employment rate by reducing unemployment rates for 

young people and the long-term jobless as well as other measures are needed providing scope for 

further co-operation between the IPP regions. 

It has however to be stated that – due to the current economic crisis – the picture in many regions in 

Europe have changed dramatically. 

Inter-connectivity of IPP regions measured in the level of broadband connectivity 

Households with broadband connection, 2009, in % of all households 

Households with broadband 

NUTS CODE NUTS NAME 

connection, 2009 

DEE Sachsen-Anhalt 56,8 


LV Latvija 50,2 


NL32 Noord-Holland 83,9 Max in EU 

DEA Nordrhein-Westfalen 72,4 Max in D 

ES30 Comunidad de Madrid 62,6 Max in E 



Key findings: 

One element for assessing the possibility for internationalization is the ability to communicate with 

modern technologies. Therefore it makes sense to take the level of broadband connections for 

households into account. 

The figures for the IPP regions show that all of them have a rather low rate compared to their national 

champions and that there is no large difference between IPP regions from the former EU 15 Member 

States or the new Member States (EU 12). 

Stronger focus on internationalization would therefore also imply a stronger development of broadband 

connection. 

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Overall assessment: 

This current data for the IPP benchmark allows the following conclusions: 

o 

The IPP benchmark show significant differences in the participation rate in a selected number of 

EU programmes. They should now be used to identify the underlying reasons to learn and to 

improve the current strategies and support systems. 

o 

The IPP regions have huge challenges to face with regard to meeting the Europe 2020 targets. 

Stronger co-operation between the partners can probably help to share experiences and to develop 

new co-operation. 

o 

The IPP regions have different potential for internationalization and co-operation in European 

programmes. Therefore a realistic assessment of achievable aims and objectives in reaching EU 

programmes (particularly in the field or R&D) are essential. 

o 

A stronger focus on applied sciences and innovation might be more successful to meet the current 

needs and the current situation in IPP regions. 

o 

Another challenge is the demographic development and the better use of the endogenous potential 

in the regions. This could also take into account specific actions towards young unemployed or 

long term unemployed to increase the employment rate and to make better use of the human 

resource potential in the IPP regions. 

Concluding remarks: 

These data show that all IPP regions have particular strength in accessing a limited number of EUprogrammes. 

It would be important in the future development of the IPP benchmark to identify these 

specific strengths and share these experiences with other IPP regions to lift the general level of 

participation in the EU programmes of the IPP regions. 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Észak-Alföld and Latvia are leading the number of successful proposals of Interreg IV C among 

IPP partners. Sachsen-Anhalt despite having the least number of successful applications shows 

great effectiveness regarding their number of applications submitted. 

Sachsen-Anhalt and Comunidad Valenciana have a leading position in 6th and 7th Framework 

Programme in IPP partnership, nevertherless, all of them need to improve the participation and 

success in this kind of projects. 

Latvia and Comunidad Valenciana have great number of Life+ and Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) 

successful applications. 

All the regions partners have a good practices and high experience in these programmes that could 

be shared. 

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CHAPTER 5 

AREAS FOR 

COOPERATION 

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Based on the analysis provided the following recommendations for further co-operation can be given 

for a number of aspects: 

o 

o 

o 

Co-operation in the field of mutual development challenges 

Co-operation of key areas of mutual interest 

Specific co-operation of a number of actors 

This chapter will look at the potential and concrete possibilities to develop new projects and intiatives to 

stengthen internationalisation in the IPP regions. 

Co-operation in the field of mutual development challenges 

All participating regions have indicated in this report that they are faced with a number of key 

development challenges: 

The Europa 2020 targets with regard to increasing the employment rate, reducing the drop-out 

rate and to increase R&D expenditures in the regioins are a massive challenge for most of the 

partners. 

 

Even though the Europe 2020 strategy does not require that all regions should meet all 

benchmarks it however expects a certain level of commitment in each region to reach the 

targets as much as possible. 

 

Therefore it make sense to develop a closer look at the Europe 2020 challenges for the regions 

and to investigate the prossibilities for future co-operation since the Europe 2020 strategy will 

have a great impact in the future design of EU co-opertion programmes. 

 

With regard to current economic situation most regions have clearly identified a number of 

key challenges with regard to creating value added employment, supporting local SME and to 

improve their rate of innovation. 

 

This could be another area of closer co-operation to provide an impoortant input in the current 

economic climate in the participating regions. 

 

Another key challenge for most IPP regions is the impact of demographic change which has led 

to a number of functional reforms and restructuring of public services and institutions in the IPP 

regions. 

This could be the scope of further co-operation in the field of innovative aspects to provide 

public services. 

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Co-operation of key areas of mutual interest 

Druing the benchmarking process the regions also idenfified a number of co-operation areas which are 

listed below: 

Areas of cooperation Interest Area pf np Project/Best practices SA EA LV CV 

Storage electric energy in excess by lifting water in reservoirs 

Energy Efficiency 

1 2 

Use of heat loss in power plants to supply hot water in cities 

Energy 

Wind Energy Plan 

Renewable energies 

3 2 

Possibilities and integration by communities and businesses 

Regional development 

Promotion of economic activities by 

the Municipalities and Regions 

Innovation and competitiveness for 

SMEs 

4 

2 

4 

3 

Promotion of economic activities in Paterna 

Role of the local and regional government in promoting economic activities 

Micro regional coordination network 

Complex programme of the 33 most disadvantaged micro-regions in Hungary 

Innovation voucher and Business voucher for SMEs 

Promote, coordinate and support the participation in the R+D+I projects by a new office in 

Comunidad Valenciana 

Innovoucher 

Medical activities Innovation in medical technology 2 

3 

Surgical Instrument Development 

Custom design implants 

Innovation in medical technology 

Region and Municipalities 

Administration 

E-administrative and TIC applications 

3 3 

Local E-administrative and TIC applications in Paterna 

E-government 

E-tools in contacting public administration and local governments 

Water management Water and waste management 1 1 Water reduce in Paterna 

EU Interregional cooperation Interregional cooperation 1 1 EU funds and interregional cooperation 

Creative industries & cultural 

events 

Creative industries 1 1 Financing instruments for development of creative industries (CI) 

Education 

Innovation in Education 

1 

2 

Innovation Days for students 

Integrated support system for new start-up creation 

It is therefore suggested to develop co-operations in the field of regional developmment, public services 

at local and reigonal level as well as water and energy efficiency. 

Specific co-operation of a number of actors 

Besides a number of thematic co-operation it could also be envisaged to increase the co-operation of 

service and support agencies of the IPP regions. 

Based on their specific profile it should be considered to establish co-operation links of the following 

organisations: 

 

in the field of business to buisness co-operation: European Enterprise Network Partners of the 

IPP regions including the Chambers of Commerce 

in the field of business and research co-operation: REDIT – Research Organisation in Valencia – 

INNOVA Agency and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Technological Centre of 

Latvia 

 

in the field of regional/local development: EU-Service Agency – Fundación Comunidad 

Valenciana – Region Europa (FCVRE) – RDA Eszak Alföld – SRDA Latvia, planning regions of 

Latvia, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments 

Page 164 

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SAXONY ANHALT 

ESZAK 

ANFOLD 

COMUNIDAD 

VALENCIANA 

EEN INNOVA Fundación Comunidad 

Valenciana – región Europa 

(FCVRE) 

EU Service 

Agentur 

EU Funding 

Experts of 

Universities 

GOEUROPE 

Servicio Empresa e 

Innovación en el 

Mediterranéo Español 

(SEIMED) 

REDIT (Red de Institutos 

Tecnológicos de la 

Comunidad Valenciana) 

RUVIT (Red de 

Universidades Valencianas 

para el fomento de la 

Investigación, el Desarrollo 

y la Innovación) 

CHAMBER OF 

COMMERCE 

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT 

AGENCIES 

COUNCIL OF CHAMBER 

OF COMMERCE 

Companies Projects Office 

R+D (OPID) 


LATVIA 

State Regional Development 

Agency 

Plannig regions, EU Structural 

Funds info centres 

Study and Science 

Administration, Ministry of 

Eduacation 

Latvian Association of Local and 

Regional Governments 

State Education Development 

Agency 

Ministry of Economics 

Investment and Development 

Agency 

National Cinema Centre, MEDIA 

Desk Latvia 

Technological and innovation 

centres 

Page 165 

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Benchmark Study 1

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