As the last years’ State of the Region reports have shown, the global share of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows that come to the Baltic Sea Region is falling, a process that is slowly eroding the Region’s share of global inward FDI stock and increasing the challenge of marketing the Region as an attractive FDI destination in an increasingly crowded global market. It is clear, however, that the Baltic Sea Region countries could attract more investments and increase their export share through joint international efforts.
The report Promotion of Trade and Investments in the Baltic Sea Region – A Report on opportunities for cooperation between trade and investment agencies, presents 21 concrete conclusions and recommendations in this regard.
Hans Skov Christensen, Chairman of BDF and former CEO of the Confederation of Danish Industry, hopes that the report will spur new debate on closer cooperation in the field.
“Due to the internationalisation, it is clear to me that we need to join forces in the region to be able to better promote trade and attract investments. Most of us are small and open markets that need to build critical mass in order to attract investors and trade opportunities globally”, he says.
“Competition between the Baltic Sea Region countries in investment promotion is good and healthy since it keeps us all on our toes. At the same time, we must not exclude joint efforts in order to penetrate better and reach the big companies and investors. This report shows that we can collaborate in many areas, both in order to have more impact and outreach in our marketing activities, but also to increase efficiency and reduce costs in operations. EU funding programmes could be useful tools in this area, if applied and tailored rightly. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region should be used to test new collaborative approaches and instruments”, Hans Skov Christensen says.
The report, which was commissioned by the Danish Enterprise and Construction Agency, is based on interviews with experts and key stakeholders from Investment and Trade Promotion Agencies, business and research in the region, followed by a consultation process with regional stakeholders.
The report has been authored by Marcus Andersson at Baltic Development Forum/Tendensor AB and Per Ekman at Tendensor AB.
The report is part of the implementation of a so-called strategic action of the Action Plan of EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
Contact person: Marcus Andersson, Baltic Development Forum, Email: ma@bdforum.org