Local/Regional Economic Development in South ... - Value Chains

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Branimir Mirtschev, business management (foreign trade) graduate
and postgraduate in international economic relations, has several years
of experience in export marketing and export management. Since May
2000, he has been coordinating the project on the promotion of the
Bulgarian fruit and wine cultivation/development of Lovetch mountain
region (FAMAD). From 2002 to 2004, he was in charge of the
component on Lovetch development. His core work area was cooperation
with decision-makers at the macro and mesolevels in regional and
rural development. Since January 2005, he has been responsible for the
component on promoting Bulgarian fruit and wine cultivation.
famad@intech.bg
Dr. Rainer Neidhardt, PhD in agriculture, specialized in livestock
farming, has many years of experience with GTZ in Germany and
abroad, regional focus is Latin America and the transition countries.
His core work areas are the importance of the economic development
of rural areas, food security and quality control of agricultural products
in enhancing the competitiveness of the food industry. He has also
specialized in concept development and consulting for the organization
and provision of the necessary services, which in turn contribute
towards sustainable structures that underlie the development of rural
areas.
rainer.neidhardt@gtz.de
David Oberhuber, political science graduate (M. A.), specialized in
East European policies and regional structural policy. Since 1996, he
has worked for GTZ on several projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
In the GTZ department for the programs of public clients in
Berlin, he is responsible for the GTZ contracts from the German Federal
Ministry of Finance (BMF), Ministry of Traffic, Construction and
Housing (BMVBW) and the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Employment
(BMWA), which share the responsibilities of finance, implementation
of regional structural policy and spatial planning at federal
level in Germany.
david.oberhuber@gtz.de
Michaela Opfermann-Gärtner, anthropologist (M. A.), teacher
trainer specializing in methodology. She has been with the Carl Duisberg
Society since 1990 working on the TRANSFORM economic
programs in Eastern Europe. Since 2002, she has been project director
at InWEnt (on behalf of the German Foreign Office) in the department
for Eastern Europe, Middle and Near East. She is in charge of
the general management of InWEnt programs in the field of business
and business associations and the banking and financial sector within
the framework of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.
michaela.opfermann-gaertner@inwent.org
Anica Palazzo, philology graduate; since November 2001, she has
coordinated the project on EUREGIO Prespa Lake, cross-border regional
development in Ohrid and Prespa lakes region. Her focus is on
regional economic development, setting up cross-border networking
structures and floating the idea of eco-tourism among governments,
institutions and the public. For several years, she has advocated the
development of sustainable, environmentally-friendly and cross-border
tourism in the region.
gtzohrid@mt.net.mk
Hermann Recknagel, engineering and MBA graduate, has worked as
marketing and key account manager in international concerns; since
1998, his own consulting firm has been involved in several GTZ-implemented
economic- and agriculture-oriented projects in South-Eastern
Europe, such as the program on economic development and employment
promotion in Bulgaria (GTZ). Themes include advice on strategy
for agricultural ministries, assistance in drafting and implementing
sector-development strategies, organization of value chains, imple-
mentation of high-profile, regional sector conferences and assistance
in establishing contacts between South-Eastern European production
centers and the European food trade.
h.r@bevcon.de
Dr. Hans Rudat, PhD agronomist/agricultural economist; from 1968
to 1996, he was GTZ team leader in various African countries, Brazil
and Turkey, responsible for various tasks within the framework of agroeconomic
development and research. From 1996 through 2002, he was
a GTZ Head Office staff member in the Planning and Development
division. Since 2003, he has worked for GTZ as an external specialist
adviser for bilateral agricultural and forestry projects in Macedonia and
Bulgaria with a focus on regional economic cooperation, EU accession
and quality standards.
hans_rudat@yahoo.de
Dr. Günter Scheer, economist, sociologist and political scientist
(PhD); trained as regional consultant (1983–1986) at the Austrian association
for regional development. He later qualified as a company
consultant (1990–1991). Since 1983, he has worked in the field of regional
development. Since 1998, he has been a partner in the Austrian
regional consulting service ÖAR Regionalberatung GmbH and since
1988 has also taught regional and organizational development, moderation
and mediation at the University of Vienna. Since 2005, he has
been supporting cluster promotion in Croatia on behalf of GTZ.
scheer@oear.at
Bernd Schmidt, economics graduate, specialized in regional and
settlement development; since 2003, he has been project manager of
the GTZ division for programs of public clients where he is responsible
for twinning projects contracted by the German Federal Ministry
for Economic Affairs and Employment (BMWA). From 2001 to
2003, as a long-term expert, he advised the Polish Western Pomeranian
Voivodship on regional structural development. From 1996 to 2001, he
worked as an adviser in the Ministry for Economic Affairs in Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania where, among other issues, he was involved
in programming the structure fund and implementing the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
bernd.schmidt@gtz.de
Dr. Heinz Schrumpf, PhD in political science, economist; until
2003, he was director of the department for regional research at the
Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research in Essen. He has
been independent since 2004 and, since 1998, has been adjunct lecturer
for European Union policies at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Between 2003 and 2004, within the framework of the project on
economic and employment promotion in Serbia, he assisted the government
of the autonomous province of Vojvodina in developing and
implementing the Integrated Regional Development Plan according to
EU standards. He has consulted to regional development in North Albania
(in accordance with EU standards) on behalf of GTZ since 2003.
heinz.schrumpf@epost.de or heinz.schrumpf@lycosxxl.de
Dr. Petra Stremplat-Platte, PhD in political science, geography
graduate. She worked for GTZ on innovative models of regional development
and economic promotion and supervised the GTZ-financed
project of “Learning Regions” in Russia. She is in charge of the topics
of regionalization, community and city development at GTZ and has
helped develop the cross-sectoral product of local/regional economic
development. Earlier, she coordinated development programs for the
UN in several countries under the auspices of the planning ministries.
petra.stremplat-platte@gtz.de
Eike Ulrich Vater, geography graduate (M. A.), specialized in local,
regional and country development/spatial planning, acquired experi-