Regional Development

The adoption of a market economy, combined with increased international economic integration have created regional winners and losers in most transition and developing countries. To assist disadvantaged regions in catching up with more dynamic regions PC&A provides a series of tailored services to central and local governments and institutions:

  • Identification of economic high-potential niches and regional master planning;
  • Advising governments on the application for and implementation of structural funds;
  • Design and implementation of regional economic policies;
  • Private sector development assistance, including technical assistance to regional SME support institutions.

 

Project Examples

Central and Eastern Europe/CIS

  • Croatia: In order to develop the administrative capacity of the Operating Structure to efficiently use the EU funds in the pre-accession process and upon accession strengthen Croatia’s absorption capacity, PC&A provided assistance to the Croatian Agency for Small Enterprises (HAMAG), the Business and Innovation Centre of Croatia (BICRO) and the Directorate for Regional and Local Infrastructure to prepare for accreditation for the implementation and monitoring of Funds. In this respect about 100 staff members were trained in e.g. tender documentation, procurement with special focus on grant schemes, contracting and financial procedures and rules.
  • Croatia: In order to maximise the socio-economic benefit of winter tourism projects in the County of lika- Senj in Croatia, it was needed to improve the institutional capacities at a county-wide and local municipal level to facilitate and support joint public and private sector economic development initiatives. The objective is also to contribute to the sustainable return of refugees and to the inclusion of all sectors of society and economy in major development projects. Beside a technical assistance for estate management and infrastructure development, PC&A provided a comprehensive support to Labour Market and Supply Chains Development, through the definition and implementation of appropriate vocational education and training initiatives in line with the labour market demand.
  • Latvia: Zemgale region- The objective of the project was to increase the capacity of regional institutions and their socio-economic partners in the identification, facilitation, preparation and management of the projects co-financed by EU Structural Funds and to build and strengthen partnership regional level.
  • Bulgaria: PC&A delivered technical assistance to the Implementing Agency at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works in the execution of the contracts awarded under the grant scheme for integrated support for economic development and promotion of employment under CBC (Cross-Border Cooperation) Programme Bulgaria- Greece 2005. PC&A’s capacity building has focused on transferring know-how and monitoring the implementation of the grant.
  • Armenia: The objective of the project was to build the institutional capacity of the Regional Development Agency (RDA) and relevant local and regional authorities to design and implement regional development strategies and programs in accordance with provisions given by Economic and Social Cohesion EU Policy. Specifically, our team improved capacity of RDA in programming, promoting, monitoring and implementing regional development programs.
  • Moldova & Ukraine: PC&A is contracted to prepare the public sector institutions potentially concerned with the implementation or use of twinning Instrument and operations in Moldova and Ukraine and to make them familiar with the tools available to them for this purpose. PC&A therefore organised and co-ordinated a workshop, giving the beneficiaries an understanding of the purpose, principles and procedures of twinning, the rationale behind the activities to be carried out, the common eligibility criteria, the institutional structure of twinning and the role and responsibilities of each actor involved in its implementation.
  • Technical Assistance for the Implementation of the Neighbourhood Programme between Bulgaria and the FYR of Macedonia: The aim of the project was to assess the impact of interventions proposed within the Operational Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation (OP-CBC-BG/fYRoM 2007-2013) between Bulgaria and FYRoM to optimise the allocation of budgetary resources and to improve the overall quality of the Operational Programme.
  • Czech Republic: PC&A was invited by the Delegation of the European Commission to the Czech Republic to ensure that Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Programme Joint Small Project Funds (JSPFs) Grant Schemes and the individual activities financed by JSPF are implemented correctly and effectively and to evaluate past programmes and individual activities in particular. Projects and Programmes in the fields of Human Resources Development, Environment, Cultural exchanges, Economic development, Tourism and Local democracy, were evaluated.
  • Hungary: Elaboration of ERDF project proposals. PC&A was part of a consortium selected by the State Budget Office in Hungary to ensure efficient expenditure by the Government of Hungary of its financial allocation from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) covering the period 2004-2006. The main task covered by PC&A was the development of project ideas into fully fledged project proposals including all supporting documents ready for support under the ERDF-financed Operational Programmes and in accordance with structural fund rules. In total approximately 150-200 project applications for ERDF and 5 aid schemes to be financed by ERDF have been prepared. The work covered the preparation of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, technical studies and tender documents for projects with a typical value of EUR 50 k to EUR 100 k. We also provided institutional support to project partners.
  • Hungary/Germany: The development of the tourism potential of the Hungarian regions is one of the priorities of the Regional Development Operative Programme. This includes the development of tourist attractions and the development of tourism-related services. The goal is to build on the increasing international and domestic demand on cultural and ecotourism products based on regional and local values. In this project, PC&A presented selected regions of Germany as an example of eco-tourism development to representatives of Hungarian regional administrations, with the objective of training the participants in ecotourism and heritage management.
  • Latvia: PC&A provided technical assistance to potential project applicants in preparing project applications for EU funding in accordance with Phare Guidelines. The two dominant areas of support were district heating systems / energy efficiency and tourism infrastructure which accounted for 78% of the proposed projects. 58 projects were identified and proposed for funding.
  • Romania/Moldova: PC&A assisted the Ministry of European Integration of Romania in its cross-border programme with Moldova in order to support the Romanian and Moldavian authorities in the design and elaboration of the joint PHARE CBC – TACIS / Neighbourhood Programme leading to the Programme being successfully launched a few months later.
  • Russian Federation: Enterprise Support Centres in the Kaliningrad and Irkutsk Oblast and the Autonomous Republic of Buryatia. PC&A assisted the local administrations in establishing industrial advisory centres that would function on a self-sustaining basis after the end of the respective projects. We also provided privatised medium and large enterprises in the three regions with Technical Assis­tance for restructuring, improvement of efficiency and adaptation to the emerging market economy.
  • Slovak Republic:  PC&A was called upon by the EC Delegation in Bratislava to provide an independent review and evaluation of 2 of the Phare pre-accession programmes in Slovakia relating to the Extended Decentralised Implementing System (EDIS) and the Economic and Social Cohesion Programme (ECOSOC).
  • Slovenia: Creation of a competitive cluster of micro and small enterprises in the machine tool industry and its suppliers in the region of Maribor.
  • Slovenia: We provided assistance to Slovene authorities in the preparation of a grant scheme to support human resources development and local infrastructure as part of Slovenia's preparation for accession to the European Union.


North Africa and Middle East

  • Jordan – PC&A provided technical assistance to various institutions and companies in the Aqaba Economic Free Zone (ASEZA). We identified bottlenecks and weaknesses of the Jordanian shipping, freight forwarding and clearance industry, notably in terms of deficiencies in the institutional support services (customs, port authorities etc) and made recommendations for improvements.
  • Malta: We assisted the Government of Malta in preparing the country for the implementation of Structural Funds after EU accession in May 2004. We defined five priority areas for implementation of Structural Funds and delivered capacity building measures with the view of familiarising the government with, inter alia the application procedures, selection criteria, co-financing measures, data exchange requirements and monitoring and evaluation systems.


Other regions

  • Kenya: PC&A completed the final evaluation of the Tourism Diversification and Sustainable Development Programme (TDSDP). The team assessed the extent to which the TDSDP programme has achieved its objectives of diversifying the tourism portfolio, creating employment and contributing to poverty alleviation on the one hand, whilst improving the enabling environment through the development of a National Tourism Plan (NTP) and seeking to implement other changes in the areas of tourism legislation and regulation, institutional reform and the development of enhanced tourism statistical information.
  • CEMAC- Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale: PC&A completed the mid-term review of the PAIRAC (Programme d’Action pour l’Intégration Régionale en Afrique Centrale- Programme for the Regional Integration in Central Africa), giving an analysis that allows the beneficiaries and the partners to have a critical and justified assessment on the relevance and the implementation of the programme.
  • Guyana: PC&A undertook the second Mid Term Review of the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP), a seven year economic development programme funded by the European Development Fund.
  • South Africa: In the framework of the Local Economic Development Programme of the KwaZulu-Natal province, PC&A assisted in the establishment of a financial support scheme for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSME) in the province. After a review of South African capital markets to identify gaps in access to finance for MSMEs, we assisted in the setting up of a 22 M EUR fund, in defining the financial mechanisms under the fund and the conditions for access to finance and in preparing a manual of procedures for the disbursement agency.
Quelle: http://www.pohl-consulting.com/government_and_institutional_support/regional_development/