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Description
Project objective:
To promote balanced development of the Riga Planning Region (henceforth - RPR) with the aid of regional entrepreneurship support mechanisms
Project Promoter: Riga Planning Region, Latvia
Donor project partner: Vestland County Municipality, Norway
Total maximum eligible project cost: € 711,016
Project duration: 34 months (July, 2021 – April, 2024)
Project Target groups:
The most important target groups of the Project are the RPR, local governments, entrepreneurs, owners of new business ideas, non-governmental business organisations, local communities and young people.
Main Activities: A0.Project management and administration; A1.Strengthening the capacity of the entrepreneurship centre and local governments of the Riga Planning Region; A2.Promoting the RPR, strengthening its development and entrepreneurship; A3.Regional mentoring of youth for entrepreneurship; A4.Region specific activities to increase employment and competitiveness; A5.Project communication and publicity.
Planned project results:
● Supported businesses with increased operational capacity;
● strengthened capacity of the Entrepreneurship centre of RPR to support entrepreneurship;
● increased share of entrepreneurs satisfied with the services and support provided by local governments;
● professional staff trained in entrepreneurship promotion and inter-municipal cooperation;
● most local municipalities located in the region participate in capacity development initiatives aimed at strengthening entrepreneurship;
● individuals supported for local business development;
● new region specific solution to increase regional competitiveness and employment implemented
Summary of project results
The objective of the project was to promote balanced development of the Riga Planning Region (RPR) with the aid of regional entrepreneurship support mechanisms. Achieving the goal of the project was ensured with the help of several interrelated activities aimed at specific support target groups.
Main Activities of the project included:
Activity 0. Project management and administration;
Activity 1. Strengthening the capacity of the entrepreneurship centre and local governments of the Riga Planning Region;
Activity 2. Promoting the RPR, strengthening its development and entrepreneurship;
Activity 3. Regional mentoring of youth for entrepreneurship;
Activity 4. Region-specific activities to increase employment and competitiveness;
Activity 5. Project communication and publicity.
All project activities were implemented by the project lead partner (promoter) Riga Planning region, Latvia, and donor project partner Vestland County Municipality (Vestland fylkeskommune), Norway.
The most important achievements of the project were:● Support to businesses through increased operational capacity. During the project implementation, more than 60 companies were supported, giving them the opportunity to present their products and services at exhibitions and fairs, as well as providing them with the opportunity to participate in training workshops on business development issues.
● Strengthened capacity of the Entrepreneurship centre of Riga Planning region. During the project implementation, specialists from the Riga Planning Region Entrepreneurship Centre had the opportunity to participate in experience exchange events in Norway and training on entrepreneurship promotion tools.
● Increased share of entrepreneurs satisfied with the services and support provided by local governments; At the beginning and end of the project, surveys of regional entrepreneurs were conducted on the quality of services provided by local governments. As a result of these surveys, an improvement in the quality of cooperation was found.
● Professional staff trained in entrepreneurship promotion and inter-municipal cooperation;
This result applies to more than 60 trained municipal business and development planning specialists.
● All local municipalities located in the region participated in capacity development initiatives aimed at strengthening entrepreneurship.
● Individuals supported for local business development; This result concerns more than 50 individuals or NGO representatives who developed and developed their business ideas under the supervision of business mentors.
● New region-specific solution to increase regional competitiveness and employment implemented. The specific solution envisaged an interactive map-based business information platform, which compiled statistical information about economic development in the region and its municipalities.
The most important target groups (beneficiaries) of the project were the employees of the Riga Planning region, local governments, entrepreneurs, owners of new business ideas, non-governmental business support organisations, local communities and young people.
Summary of bilateral results
a.How the project benefited from having a donor project partner?The donor partner, Vestland Regional Municipality, played the main advisory role in the implementation of the project, given the partner''s extensive experience in promoting entrepreneurship. Norwegian partners were involved as consultants in all main project activities and in the organization of experience exchange trips. This ensured added value to the support activities organized in Latvia.b.Describe the main results from a bilateral level.The main results of bilateral cooperation are the exchange of knowledge and experience between Latvian and Norwegian partners regarding the support provided by regional and local government institutions to business, creating a cooperation ecosystem, promoting activities and developing support tools or organizing various events aimed at local development and place marketing.c.Plans to continue the bilateral cooperation.The project partners have discussed the possibility of continuing cooperation in the future, possibly within the framework of a new EEA / Norwegian financial instruments. However, the implementation of specific cooperation projects in the future will depend on the functions, duties and competences of both partners in the areas of cooperation chosen by the partner countries.