UNECE Spring Seminar Competitiveness and economic growth in the UNECE Region

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:

Ref: ECE/GEN/04/P06