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Cross-border
economic
development
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Cross-cutting themes in cross-border economic development
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ADIRA (Lower Rhine Development Agency)
mapped out the main
players in innovation in the Upper Rhine
in 2012, categorising
them into six families and nine sectors.
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The French-Belgian project “Tandem”
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has encouraged the
creation of “tandems” between French and Flemish groupings
of businesses or clusters to create sustainable bridges between
the academic/scientific world and businesses.
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These two projects highlight the exploratory nature of the cross-
border cooperation approach in the area of innovation, and the
differences between innovation ecosystems across borders.
There is therefore clear-cut potential to strengthen cross-border
interclustering and technology transfer. The priority is currently to
identify possible synergies between players to structure cross-
border partnerships and projects, with the ultimate aim of promoting
regional excellence on a larger scale.
Developing cross-border
exports
The desire to capitalise on the strengths of the cross-border economic
fabric to promote territories’ value and visibility within the global economy
is what stimulates public, semi-public and private players to facilitate
cross-border cooperation between businesses and productive systems.
Several chambers of commerce and industry at France’s borders have
adopted this approach.
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For example, EURO 3 and Bihartean
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are two EEIGs (European
Economic Interest Groupings) set up by chambers of commerce
on both sides of the border to support businesses in their
cross-
border export
activities and facilitate cross-border integration
of shared economic sectors.
This cross-border cooperation should enable businesses to develop
their catchment areas in the neighbouring market, strengthen their
ability to meet the needs of a larger market, and develop their exports
in Europe and the rest of the world.
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The Project Factsheet page 93.
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The Project Factsheet page 117.
Seed4Start project, in the Greater Region
© Projet Seed4Start