Economic cooperation projects between Ita-Slo in the cross-border region and their impact on enterprises iCON: Competitiveness of SMEs through Innovation and Collaborative Entrepreneurship Paolo Panjek Gorizia/Gorica, Forum on Cross-Border Integration

TWO focuses 1) Brief analysis of economic relations 2) Analysis of economic cooperation programmes Reference period: TOOLS: interviews with stakeholder; Statistical data analysis; Official Programmes documents;

Brief analysis of existing economic relations Interpenetration between productive systems FVG – SLO is poor. 2 set of causes: 1.Structural differences between the two economic systems; 2.Causes related to “politics” (initiatives and programmes to foster and develop cooperation on different levels).

Brief analysis of existing economic relations (2) Main Characteristics: Disproportion between trade flows (high) and FDI (poor)↓ Proximity factor: Strong trade flows without relevant sinergies between productive systems Pure “cost saving” or “market search” ratios non sufficient to stimulate higher Investment flows between ITA and SLO (limited cost differentials, small internal market in SLO, proximity) TAX reductions: induced some cross-border mobility of mainly small enterprises of the tertiary sector; Bigger investments need to be based on a more complex set of economic-industrial factors- tax advantages could be just one element

Brief analysis of existing economic relations (3) Structural differences: FVG Manufacturing: ‐mostly SME; ‐Districts (high territorial specializations); ‐Structural deficiencies due to “dimensional problems”; ‐Difficult internationalization of SMEs. SLO / border regions Manufacturing : ‐Medium and big enterprises; ‐No districts; ‐No clear territorial specializations; INTRAINDUSTRY TRADE 1995 – 2006 FVG –SLO: relevant levels but constant or decreasing (proximity factor) FVG – PECO: low base levels that grew rapidly in the period

Economic Cooperation Initiatives and Programmes Focus on 4 Programmes: Phare CBC Ita- Slo ‘94-’99; Interreg IIIA/Phare CBC Ita-Slo; Interreg IIIC; Interreg IIIB Most relevant Initiatives/projects had been developed within the two CROSS-BORDER.

Economic Cooperation Initiatives and Programmes (2) IMPACT ON ENTERPRISES (Manufacturing)? Main sectors: culture, tourism, agriculture/traditional products, environment Limited resources to develop cooperation in secondary sector ex: in the Interreg ITA-SLO just 6% (6,7 mio EUR) of the total programme budget has been set to Measure 2.1: Improvement in competitiveness and cooperation.

Economic Cooperation Initiatives and Programmes (3) Just 10 project related to the topic Most of the relevant projects realized in the 1995 – 2003 period SME Strategy, Primorska Technologic Poles, PRIM-e (Primorska enterprises) First phase: catchig –up → Transfer of Know-how on development policies; new infrastructures (incubators)

Economic Cooperation Initiatives and Programmes (4) Critical factors emerged: Poor bilateral character of projects (functional partnerships, Until 2003 the two territories were financed by different funds with different schedules); Lack of a specific mapping relative to potentials and needs of productive sectors in the programming phase; Poor involvement of the private sector in the programming phase/ no system relationship with productive sectors.

Economic Cooperation Initiatives and Programmes (5) Strong acceleration of institutional initiatives in the last 15 years thanks to various EU programmes dedicated to integration and cohesion between member states and accessing countries/new member states. - Development of a complex social, cultural and economic relations; - Development of the territorial development actors Cooperation mainly constrained to EU programmes; -Politics not able to promote and develop an integrated approach on socio-economic matters: NO common strategic planning; -Coordination problems: different institutional framework: no regional level in Slovenia. + -

Forum on Cross-Border Integration Thank you for listening Contacts: Paolo Panjek Tel: Projekt iCON sofinanciran v okviru Programa čezmejnega sodelovanja Slovenija-Italija iz sredstev Evropskega sklada za regionalni razvoj in nacionalnih sredstev. Progetto iCON finanziato nell'ambito del Programma per la Cooperazione Transfrontaliera Italia-Slovenia , dal Fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale e dai fondi nazionali. Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze