Economic Development Group

NORTH SEA COMMISSION BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GROUP
REPORT TO NSC GENERAL ASSEMBLY 22 JUNE 2001

1 Introduction

The aim of this report is to summarise the work of the North Sea Commission Business Development Group (BDG) since the last NSC General Assembly in June 2000 - and to describe the future priorities of the Group.

2 Chair and co-ordinator arrangements

The chair of the BDG continues to be Councillor Anne McGovern of Fife Council. The vice chair - Councillor Jane Hore of Suffolk County Council - resigned her NSC positions due to other work commitments during the year and a replacement is required. Nick Burfield of Suffolk County Council continues as co-ordinator.

3 Meetings

The BDG has met twice since the last General Assembly: on 3 November 2000 in Arendal, Aust Agder, Norway; and in Brussels, Belgium on 4 May 2001. In addition a planning sub group met in Stansted, England, on 13 October to prepare for the Arendal meeting.

The BDG normally aims to meet only twice each year and will progress its activity through sub-groups and by the use of email.

4 Meeting in Arendal on 3 November 2000

16 BDG members attended the meeting in Arendal to look in particular at the opportunities to deliver its projects with financial support through Interreg IIIB.

The meeting began with a presentation by the North Sea Programme secretariat regarding opportunities under Interreg IIIB.

The rest of the meeting time was used to run workshops to provide a more creative opportunity to identify and bring forward practical projects.

A number of project areas from the Group's action plan were identified to take forward. These were:

• IT-based Business
• Partner Network
• E-business
• International Trade
• Innovation Regional
• Business Development
• Rural business support

It was hoped at the meeting that these project areas could be merged into a single Interreg IIB application by the time the bidding round opened.

5 Meeting in Brussels on 4 May 2001

The May 2001 meeting was arranged to take place in Brussels to try and ease travel arrangements and also to facilitate the involvement of an EC speaker. 17 BDG members attended the meeting.

The meeting began with a presentation by Telemark County Council of a comparative analysis of economic planning systems in: Telemark, Norway; Fife, Scotland; Suffolk, England; and Viborg, Denmark. Similarities and differences were highlighted and these were related to the different national and local government systems in each respective state.

A speaker from EC DG Research then explained to the BDG the Commission's current programmes on research and innovation, and gave an early indication of how the 6th Framework Programme is likely to be shaped.

The rest of the meeting was devoted to further development of the Group's proposed Interreg IIIB bid, which was distilled into 4 work packages, namely:

SME365 (internet business co-operation tool) and international trade E-business Innovation Regional business development

These packages are being developed and can be viewed on www.SME365.com and a brief presentation of the website will be made at the General Assembly.

6 Interreg IIC - Regional Economic Development Strategies and their Spatial Implications

This project, run on behalf of the BDG by a partnership comprising: Fife; Suffolk (lead); Telemark; Viborg; and Wilhelmshaven; concluded in March 2001.

The project was based on five inter-related, but separate, seminar/study visits held between June 1999 and April 2001:

• 'The importance of internationalisation in economic development'. Fife, Scotland: 10 - 13 June 1999
• 'Promotion of Employment Opportunities in Rural Areas'. Viborg, Denmark: 7 - 10 October 1999
• 'A Comparison of economic activities between urban and rural areas' Telemark, Norway: 23 - 26 March 2000
• 'Different models of economic and social development'. Wilhelmshaven, Germany: 7 - 10 September 2000 'Urban and rural regeration - final seminar'. Suffolk, England: 29 - 31 March 2001.

The final evaluation report of the seminar series confirms that delegates found the events of significant value in identifying new approahches to economic planning and project development in their respective areas.

7 Membership

Active membership of the Group has fallen slightly from between 20 and 25 to around 17 although a further 25 NSC organisations remain on a correspondence list to receive papers for information.

8 The future

The core membership of the Group is strong and stable, and there is a wide range of project activity 'in hand.' Nonetheless, there is a challenge to ensure that practical projects are developed and taken forward - the BDG must retain a practical focus if it is to thrive.

New members would be welcomed to the BDG: to add to the Group's ideas; to broaden those that are currently being developed; and to participate in the projects that are being brought forward.

Nick Burfield Co-ordinator,
NSC Business Development Group
22 June 2001