Baltic Development Forum presents The State of the Region Report 2009

The 2009 edition of Baltic Development Forum's The State of the Region Report provides essential reading for decision makers in the Baltic Sea Region. The Report Boosting the Top of Europe offers an up-to-date assessment of competitiveness and regional collaboration across the Baltic Sea.

The economic realities in the Baltic Sea Region are this year overshadowed by the impact of the global crisis. The Report tracks the way countries across the Region have been affected, and the way in which they have responded. It looks at the fundamental competitiveness of the Region to understand why the crisis hit this Region hard and what the likely dynamics are for the medium-term future.

The Report looks at how regional collaboration has fared during the crisis, documenting the activities of key regional organizations over the last year. A particular interest is the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy that has galvanized a lot of their strategic planning. Key elements of the Strategy are presented and then discussed in their ability to address the competitiveness challenges that the Baltic Sea Region is currently facing.

The State of the Region Report is used by governments, organizations, financial institutions and private actors. It offers insights into the development of the economic markets in neighbouring countries that is of great value to anyone interested in doing business in this area.

The Report will be presented by the author Dr. Christian Ketels at the Baltic Development Forum Summit in Stockholm on 5 October, 09.00h.

Key Messages of the Report

• The Baltic Sea Region has been hit disproportionately hard by the global crisis but is now expected to rebound quicker than others
• The impact of the crisis is going to widen the significant existing economic differences across the Region, ending a catch-up process that had become unsustainably rapid
• The level of regional collaboration remains strong, with innovation and environment
  as frequent themes and the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy emerging as a coordinating mechanism
• The crisis has shifted the focus to policies controlled at the national level and led to a divergence of needs and perceptions across the Region; regional collaboration is
  becoming more difficult
• Despite the current drop in prosperity and productivity, the Region remains one of the most prosperous regions internationally with balanced positions on labour productivity and mobilization
• The significant heterogeneity of competitiveness levels and profiles across the Region is further increased by the crisis and the policy responses now under way
• The Baltic Sea Region remains Top of Europe on the Lisbon Agenda goals and has a
  significant contribution to make to the Agenda's post-2010 renewal
• The Region needs to continue deepening its integration, marching ahead on its way to an innovation-driven economy, and becoming better prepared to deal with economic shocks
• The EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy is an important step forward for regional collaboration; it now needs further actions within the Region to meet the high expectations created
• The EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy has the potential to become an important role model for a new approach towards European integration

About the Report

The State of the Region Report, drawing on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, is prepared by Dr. Christian Ketels, Principal Associate at Harvard Business School. Over the years it has become a respected benchmarking tool regarding competitiveness, economic performance and prosperity in Northern Europe.

The State of the Region Report has been made possible through support from the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Investment Bank.

Contacts

Dr Christian Ketels, Principal Associate, Harvard Business School
Phone +46-70-491 46 26, email: cketels@hbs.edu

Hans Brask, Director, Baltic Development Forum
Phone +45-60 21 85 81, email: hb@bdforum.org

About us

Baltic Development Forum is a network for high level decision makers from business, politics, academia and media in the Baltic Sea Region. It was founded in 1998, and is still lead, by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Uffe Ellemann-Jensen. Our mission is to initiate and facilitate processes to build a strong, prosperous and coherent Baltic Sea Region.