The Västra Götaland region with Göteborg leading the way is the next best region in Europe for trade and industry investment in research and development. Only Stuttgart in the middle of Mercedes-land is better.
- This together with our proven ability to weather critical changes gives us a solid basis to emerge even stronger from the current situation - things are tough at the moment here too, as with the rest of the world, said Bertil Törsäter, Regional Development Director for Region Västra Götaland.
Göteborg and the Västra Götaland region are the areas most dependent on exports in the whole of Sweden and have gone through crises over the years. A previously blooming textile industry and successful shipping commerce have been replaced by a growing motor industry.
But now, just as the motor industry in Sweden as elsewhere in the world is going through a crisis, it is no longer the case, as it was before, to look to the next dominating branch which will replace the old. What matters now is that car manufacturers must continue to restructure and continue with their advanced technological development, whilst parallel development occurs in a number of other areas.
The vehicle manufacturers – Volvo and Saab – along with pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, and telecom and IT companies such as Ericsson, which are the main the reason for Göteborg’s and Västra Götaland’s strong international position for research and development. A key to continued success is that companies and industries continue with this knowledge-based growth.
Before the global recession began to hit last year, Västra Götaland and Göteborg had had great successes. In the course of a decade, 70,000 new jobs were created, which made the region one of the fastest growers in Europe. This growth has primarily occurred in the advanced and often IT-related service industries and business.
The success stories are also a result of the combination of traditional and continually-evolving production methods with new business opportunities within the knowledge-bases sector.
Furthermore, they are also the consequence of keen reorganisations skills, which have been honed as a result of long experience of tough international competition. This has resulted in excellent co-operation between politicians, business and industry, and academia.
-When there’s the will and the ability from many to work together, and there is that in the Göteborg region, then you can accomplish great things, said Professor Ulf Petrusson, who leads the newly-established Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Gothenburg. Politicians, representatives from trade and industry, the unions, and researchers all subscribe to a common agenda. This results in decisiveness and the power to act.
The Göteborg region thus stands under the banner: A city with an agenda. It is a policy statement which can be summarised in three parts:
• Sustainable development
•Rapid development of the city as a tourist and event destination
• Unique co-operation between social authorities and institutions
Sustainable growth within broad societal fields – social, environmental, and economic – is a prerequisite for surviving the future. Through investment in the infrastructure, the labour market region will grow by 50% to 1.5 million inhabitants by the year 2020, a condition for long-term growth. Another important aspect is to continue investment in the environment. For example, Göteborg already uses less than one percent oil for heating.
Göteborg and the Västra Götaland region are becoming even more important as a tourist and business destination. They are one of the fastest growing areas in Europe of the last 15 years. New figures show that the event and tourist industries, along with the entertainment sector, employ around 17,000 people in Göteborg, which is almost as much as the vehicle manufacturers AB Volvo and Volvo Cars. Göteborg is becoming all the more important as a city for conferences and events, and Västra Götaland as a whole is fast developing as a tourist and event destination.
Across the Västra Götaland region and perhaps most in Göteborg, there is a tradition of co-operation between the public and private sectors in combination with the universities. It is said that a special ‘Göteborg spirit’ exists, which relates to finding common solutions for the city’s and the region’s development.
The Västra Götaland region with Göteborg leading the way is next best in the whole of Europe for trade and industry investment in research and development. Read more about the region’s proven ability to manage tough changes – and about ‘A city with an agenda’.
Greater Göteborg invests its way out of the crisis and creates 20,000 new jobs. Read more about how Göteborg will grow to a region the size of Brussels.
In Västra Götaland economic growth and the environmental are not contradictory agendas. Read more on how Europe looks to the region’s forward-thinking ideas.
Sweden and Norway have the world’s first cross-border marine national park.
Read more about the Kosterhavets National Park in Västra Götaland which has cost 150 million Swedish crowns to set up.
