Results from the Interreg Nord project Arctic Investment Platform (AIP) is published.
Johannes Lith, the project manager from Regional Council of Lapland informs that the project has managed to answer all of its core objectives: first of all analysing the demand and feasibility of a structured funding cooperation, leading to proposing a framework and roadmap as well as ensuring credible resources to engage with key institutions for setting up the structured cooperation.
The project followed up on experienced challenges of the participating regions in the field of SME financing as well as recommendations from the European Commission and the OECD to work closer together in this field. The feasibility study was dearly needed, in order to discover, if and how the regions could develop the regional challenges into common cross-regional European opportunities. The cooperation continues among a minimum of 9 regions across Finland, Sweden and Norway, into the implementation phase, preparing the launch of the Arctic Investment Platform in 2022.
The added value of the cross-border cooperation has been multidimensional. Johannes Lith says “first of all, the cooperation has enabled everyone to learn from each other new ways to develop their own regions. Even in the times of corona and lack of physical meetings, we have been able to agree on points that can make us stronger together”. The most tangible added value has of course been the concrete road map and structure for future cooperation, with the aim of a continued guaranteed added value, in the form of more growing SMEs, for the regions involved.