Regions for Economic change Brussels 25-26 January 2007

3

The overall objective of the Barents strategy is to generate economic growth and social development by a knowledge driven and sustainable exploitation of the Region´s natural resources and to make the Barents Region competitive on the world market.

Profile elements and dependencies National policies EU-policies International influences and interactions National and international risk-willing capital Exploitation and refinement of natural resources combined with transport solutions R&D as significant driving force behind growth initiatives Environmental protection and improvement Mitigation of socio- economic unbalances through educational initiatives

Principle Strategy Model A set of multilateral sector programmes which are strongly oriented towards the natural resources in the Region and linkages to closely related industries.

Industrial development Principal framework of the sector programmes Industrial development combined with transport solutions R&D Environmental protection and improvement Advanced educational programmes

Research and educational institutions Collaborative character of the sector programmes Research and educational institutions Public authorities and other organisations Private sector

Action Plan – a dynamic process Five frame sector programmes have been launched: Forestry Oil and gas Mining and minerals Tourism East-west logistics – Barents link Next step is to create bilateral and multilateral targeted pilot projects within each programme

Principle Strategy for “Projects” Use existing organisation Have a focus Living dialog Make changes for progress Activities where the national level is a part THE Implementation