UNECE Spring Seminar
Competitiveness and economic growth in the
UNECE Region
Palais des Nations (Conference Room XVIII), Geneva
Monday, 23 February 2004, 10 a.m.
Geneva, 17 February
2004 - On Monday, 23 February 2004,
the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) will hold its seventh Spring
Seminar, which this year will focus on "Competitiveness
and economic growth in the UNECE Region"
(see programme).
The Seminar will be organized in four sessions:
- Competitiveness, growth and catching up in the UNECE region
- The determinants of competitiveness in the knowledge-driven economy:
education, research and development, innovation in the UNECE region
- The competitiveness of regions and localities within the UNECE economies
- The role of governments in fostering competitiveness and growth
The first session on "Competitiveness, growth and
catching up in the UNECE region" will be moderated by Abdur Chowdhury,
UNECE. The keynote speaker will be Professor Karl Aiginger, Austrian Institute
of Economic Research. The discussants will be Daniel Daianu, Academy of Economic
Studies, Bucharest, and Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Troika Dialog, Moscow.
The session will discuss the different dimensions and measures
of competitiveness and the main macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that
shape the competitiveness of the UNECE economies. The session will also discuss
how these factors are related to past and present social choices, the historic
and more recent growth patterns of the UNECE economies, their relative positioning
in terms of per capita income levels as well as the process of economic convergence/divergence
in the region. This analysis will serve as the basis for the formulation of
conclusions and recommendations on policies that may enhance competitiveness
and stimulate growth and catching up in the UNECE region.
The second session on "The determinants of competitiveness
in the knowledge-driven economy: education, research and development, innovation
in the UNECE region" will be moderated by Daniel Daianu, Academy
of Economic Studies, Bucharest. The keynote speaker will be Professor Jan
Fagerberg, University of Oslo. The discussants will be Janos Gacs, Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, and Robert Huggins, Robert Huggins Associates.
The session will focus on issues such as: the changes in
education systems required to meet the new needs; the role of human capital
development as the foundation of the new labour market in the UNECE economies;
organization of research and development in the UNECE region and the new challenges
in the 21st century; issues involved in the financing of the knowledge-driven
economy; the role of policy for stimulating innovation and the diffusion of
new technologies in the UNECE economies.
The third session on "The competitiveness of regions
and localities within the UNECE economies" will be moderated by Pavel
Mertlik, Raiffeisenbank, Czech Republic. The keynote speaker will be Professor
Gyula Horvath, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The discussants will be Karl
Aiginger, Austrian Institute of Economic Research, and Riccardo Faini, Italian
Ministry of Treasury.
The session will seek to provide a better understanding of
some of the issues related to regional development in the UNECE area: what
are the main factors for the emergence of large regional inequalities in economic
development in the UNECE economies; is there a link between regional inequalities
and national growth; what can be the role of regional agglomerations and clusters
for fostering innovation and technology transfer at the regional level; what
is the role of finance and financial constraints in regional development and
growth; what is the experience in implementing various policies for reducing
regional disparities in the UNECE region (in particular, EU structural funds).
The fourth session on "The role of governments in
fostering competitiveness and growth" will be moderated by Riccardo
Faini, Italian Ministry of Treasury. The keynote speaker will be Ken Warwick,
Department of Trade and Industry, United Kingdom. The discussant will be Pavel
Mertlik, Raiffeisenbank, Czech Republic.
The following issues will be discussed at the session: the
role of targeted policies in fostering competition and growth (in particular,
policies to promote R&D, innovation and technological transfer; competition
policy and labour market policy); creating supportive public institutions;
establishing an efficient policy process and a transparent regulatory framework;
the role of public infrastructure investment for competitiveness and growth;
the role of public policy and institutional factors in stimulating regional
development.
The Seminar is open to the public.
For further information please contact:
UNECE Economic Analysis Division
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 20 84
Fax: +41(0)22 917 03 09
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/ead/2004seminar.htm
Ref: ECE/GEN/04/P06