The Baltic Sea Region countries could increase their export share and attract more investments through joint international efforts.
Promotion of Trade and Investments in the Baltic Sea Region – A Report on opportunities for cooperation between trade and investment agencies, presents eight concrete conclusions and recommendations.
Hans Skov Christensen, Vice-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 key stakeholders in the region but further comments to the report are very welcome before 7 October. The final version will be published in connection with the Baltic Development Forum Summit in Gdansk, 24-26 Otober.
If you want to give feedback on the report, please contact one of the authors, Marcus Andersson, on ma@bdforum.org. He has authored the Report together with Per Ekman at Swedish consultancy Tendensor AB. Marcus Andersson also works for Tendensor.
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.
Baltic Development Forum & its partners continuously conduct and publish various Reports in relation to the Baltic Sea Region.
Contact person: Marcus Andersson