Regional Working Group on Investments and Economic Cooperation

The new mandate of the Working Group was adopted in the end of 2006 and it meant in practice, that it was possible to start the group’s actual activities in 2007. The main tasks of the group were determined in the mandate as follows:

  • to assess business infrastructure from the practical viewpoint of the region’s SMEs
  • to propose to the officials the improvement of business climate and operational conditions
  • to arrange meetings between administrations and business life 
  • to distribute information 
  • to encourage SMEs for cross-border economic cooperation 
  • to build up sub-contractor networks so that SMEs could participate the big-scale projects 
  • to start a dialogue between the big companies and SMEs in the region 
  • to combat trade barriers
  • to inform about the transportation needs of companies 
  • to cooperate with different sector programmes

The mandate also stated the composition of the working group with a representative from all member regions. The representative should also have experience from business life. The working group’s chairmanship rotates every second year.

The working group held two meetings during 2007, one in Saariselkä within the Sixth Barents Industrial Partnership  together with the BEAC Working Group on Economic Cooperation and another in Petrozavodsk in the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Karelia. In the meetings the mandate was looked upon and its implementation was discussed. Ilkka Yliniemi introduced the objectives for the working group set by the Council of Oulu region, which will chair the Barents Regional Council from the beginning of 2008. During the followed discussion it was stated that the chairmanship period of the Council of Oulu region is crucial for starting the working group activities. If participation of the meetings will still be passive and some significant member regions will not nominate their representatives, the need for the working group should be re-evaluated. From the opinion of the present members the working group activities are nevertheless important from the viewpoint of the regions, so it is worth seriously making efforts to tackle the problems of the starting phase. A good solution could be arranging the meetings within the Regional Council’s meetings. 

The working group has been revitalized during 2011 and has held three meetings, in April, August and September. One of the results from these meetings is the RWGIEC Action Plan 2011-2013. 

Contact persons

Kjell Hjelm, chairman
Swedish Federation of Business Owners
Företagarna Norrbotten
Storgatan 11, SE-972 38 Luleå, Sweden
Tel.: +46920201860  , Mobile: +46 70 69 09 275
Email: kjell.hjelm@foretagarna.se 

Torbjörn Halvardsson
Regionchef Företagarna Västerbotten
Magasinsgatan 7, SE-903 27 Umeå, Sweden
Mobile: +46 70 341 05 95
E-mail: torbjorn.halvardsson@foretagarna.se

Sergey Mikhailovich Averin
Ministry of Economic Development in the Arkhangelsk Region
49 Trotsky Pr., 163000, Arkhangelsk, Russia
Tel.: +7 8182 288392
Fax: +7 8182 215298
E-mail: econo@dvinaland.ru 

Martti Kankaanranta
Länsipohjan Yrittäjät RY
Valtakatu 5
FIN-94100 Kemi, Finland
Tel.: +358 500 693 745
E-mail: martti.kankaanranta@yrittajat.fi

Jorma Teittinen
Joint Authority of Kainuu Region
Kauppakatu 1
Kajaani, Finland
Tel.: +358 8 6155 4212
Mob.: +358 44 7100 859
Fax: +358 8 6155 4260
E-mail: jorma.teittinen@kainuu.fi

Trond Skotvold
Regiondirektør NHO Troms
Bankgata 9/11, 9008 Tromsø
Postal adress: Postboks 448, 9255 Tromsø
Tel. +47 77 66 25 25
Fax. +47 77 66 25 30 
E-mail: trond.skotvold@nho.no

Ilkka Yliniemi 
Development Director 
Regional Council of Oulu 
Kaupperienkatu 8A 
FIN-90100 Oulu, Finland 
E-mail: ilkka.yliniemi@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi 


Documents