NIB hosts pre-launch of economic report on Baltic Sea region

On 27 September, NIB hosted a pre-launch of the State of the Region Report 2007 prepared for the Baltic Development Forum (BDF) with financial support from NIB and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The Report that has been produced annually since 2004 takes a comprehensive look at the Baltic Sea Region’s economic performance and its attractiveness for business.

The author of the Report, Principal Associate at the Harvard Business School, Dr. Christian Ketels, gave a presentation of his preliminary findings. He underlined that demand sophistication, skills and knowledge remain the Baltic Sea region’s crucial strengths and a source of the region’s competitive advantages in the global economy. According to Dr Ketels, the Baltic countries, in particular, provide regional companies with an important training ground for expansion into Eastern Europe and Russia, and an experimental platform for modern business models.

NIB’s President and CEO, Johnny Åkerholm, stressed NIB’s special purpose in sponsoring the Report: “Given our membership and activities aimed at enhancing competitiveness, this Report is of a clear benefit to us. The Report is unique, as it pulls together various aspects of the region’s economic development, and reflects the opinions and attitudes of the business community.”

Among the participants of the pre-launch event panel were also the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Secretary General, Haldur Asgrimson, and the BDF Director, Hans Brask. About 40 guests from many countries of the region, including business people, diplomats and journalists, attended the event at NIB.

The BDF is an independent non-profit network working with a wide range of partners, including businesses, governments, regional organisations, as well as research and media institutions. Its mission is to promote the Baltic Sea region as an integrated, prosperous and internationally competitive growth region. The 9th annual summit of the Baltic Development Forum is taking place on 4-6 November in Tallinn, Estonia.