1. INTERREG III C PROJECT WEST ZONE FUTURREG Futures for Regional Development Kick-off Meeting CARDIFF WALES19 September 2005

2. INDEX  The Region of La Rioja  La Rioja Economic Development Agency  Futurreg project, La Rioja and REDA

3. La Rioja is a small Autonomous Community, strategically located in the centre– north of Spain (in the middle of the Ebro Valley), close to the main city capitals such as Bilbao, Barcelona and Madrid, and other major cities, like Zaragoza, Santander Valladolid and Burgos. The Region

4. La Rioja, is considered to be the cradle of the spanish language, crossed by the pilgrims` route of Compostela, wordly known as the “Camino of Santiago”, which owns a lot of interesting places to visit. The Region

5. La Rioja has a total surface area of 5,045 km² and a population of 260,000. Its main city, Logroño, accounts for 125,000 of this population. It ranks 20th among European regions in terms of the highest percentage of economic activity devoted to the industrial sector. La Rioja enjoys one of the highest GDP and value exported ratios per capita in Spain. The unemployment rate of 6.9% is, on the other hand, one of the lowest in Spain. The Region

6. Economic activity is concentrated mainly on the lightweight metal industry, agro-food, shoes and furniture manufacturing, which are the main sources of income. The agro-food sector is particularly important, most of which is linked to wine production which has been renowned for its quality and prestige for over a century.

7. La Rioja Economic Development Agency (REDA), is a public organisation run by La Rioja Government's Ministry of Agriculture and Economic Development, which aims is to implement the policy of economic-industrial promotion especially in the field of SMEs. REDA is an organisation that works for the consolidation and promotion of local business and the textile industry of this Autonomous Region, with the aim to place them beside the most developed regions in Europe. Our objective is to foster the regional economic development, promoting the consolidation and creation of new companies in La Rioja and bring prosperity to local enterprises. REDA

8. REDA`s principal objectives are:  Consolidation of local business-production and improvement of productive regional capacity.  Promotion of technological innovation in SME’s and advice on patents and trade marks.  Promotion of entrepreneurship.  Encouraging companies to participate in European projects and networks.  Support different business initiatives  Foster trade activities in La Rioja.  Boosting of business design.  Internationalisation of regional SMEs. REDA

9. The activities of La Rioja Economic Development Agency are targeted to local entrepreneurs in order to promote the entrepreneurship in La Rioja. REDA coordinates and provides economic and institutional support for innovation in business, playing a important role in enabling development and technology transfer and acting as a link between business and research organisations. REDA

10. Main Services of REDA  SME’s Self-diagnostic  Business directory (General information about enterprises from La Rioja)  Internationalization services (information and advice)  Business information  Strategic planning about the main economic sectors  Red CENEO (Innovation Relay Centre) REDA

11. Main Objectives of REDA, the regional Agency of La Rioja on FUTURREG Project: to improve the effectiveness of policies and instruments for regional development and cohesion in La Rioja to exchange and share experience among Futurreg regional partners with the aim to create a European Future network FUTURREG

12. REDA Global expectations about FUTURREG projects: - to foster Regional Futures and foresight capacity in La Rioja, which allows a systematic participatory future intelligence, and gather a medium-to-long-term visions and joint actions. - to build up REDA personnels skills in the use of future tool- kit as an extra instrument to increase the competitiveness of the SMEs in La Rioja FUTURREG

13. Contact reference of REDA: Calle Muro de la Mata No. 14-15, Logroño (La Rioja) SPAIN. Telephone:+34 941 291500 Fax: +34 941 291543 E-mail: ader@ader.es Web: www.ader.es