New Barents Programme adopted
In its meeting in Umeå, Sweden, last week, the Barents Regional Council approved the Barents Program for 2009-2013. Joint cross-border action is the main objective of the 13 regional administrations involved.
It is the sixth Barents regional program since cooperation started in 1993.
-The programme is an operational framework aimed at tackling the regions’ joint challenges as well as taking advantage of regional opportunities, Anna Lund, deputy director of the International Barents Secretariat says to BarentsObserver.
She highlights that the different parts of the region share a great abundance in natural resources but suffer from migration of women and youth and lack of skilled labor. She also says that the future of the region is increasingly dependent on a strong emphasis on improving logistics and transport. It is a prerequisite for continued development of natural resources.
The programme gives recommendations for joint action within the field of economic cooperation, living conditions, human resources, indigenous peoples, transport and infrastructure and information.
In the Umeå meeting, the cooperating regions also outlined a strong commitment to move forward with an application to the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Program. Together with project finances from Interreg, the financial commitment the regions will amount to an estimated 2.5 million EUR, all of which will be a main tool for implementation of the Barents Program priorities.
The council also supported a proposal from the Swedish Västerbotten county on the need for greater efforts on business and enterprise cooperation. Regional governor Chris Heister wants a series of ministerial level meetings between Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia on the issue.
The Barents Regional Council meeting in addition raised the possible establishment of a new Barents working group on tourism.
Read more about the Barents Cooperation at www.beac.st
