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LA RIOJA
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
La Rioja is a small region situaded in the northern part of Spain lying between Castilla and Navarra, it covers an area of 5.045, 27 square km, it has a population of 276.702 inhabitants and a density of 54, 8 persons per square kilometre.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The road network of the region comprised 127 kilometres of motorways and 1 735 kilometres of other roads in 2001. There are no airports in the region.
ECONOMY
In agriculture, production is concentrated mainly on fruit and vegetables, both fresh and for canning, and wine, some of the country's finest wines being produced in Rioja. Industry is dominated by small and medium-sized firms.

The main branches, in addition to food processing are textiles, leather and footwear, metal products and machinery, cork and wooden furniture, plastics and other manufactured goods. The regional GDP is 4,767 (Mill. EUR), and the per capita GDP is 17,8 (in K EUR).
LABOUR MARKET
The employment rate is almost 95%, one of the highest in Spain, (female employment rate is 93,7% and the male one is 96,1%). The unemployment rate is 5,9%. In agriculture works 10,5% of the workforce, in industry 30%, the rest works in the services sector.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The region spends 0,49% of its GDP in research and development: 0,2% of total GDP in public sector, 0,03% in government, 0,17% in university and 0,29 %in private sector.
DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
The region belongs, for the period 2000-2006, to EU objective 2, granting a total amount of aid of 41.579.300 euros.
REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
 The main objective of La Rioja’s programme of innovative actions 2002-2003was to support the transition of the region’s economy and society towards the “age of knowledge”, by developing innovative experiences and promoting the exchange of good practice between other European regions. Five actions were planned:

  • To prepare the transition of the region towards a knowledge-based society and economy.

  • To innovate in the management of regional programmes by means of applying a participative methodology.

  • To test innovative actions with a high-risk component that were difficult to undertake within the framework of the Objective 2 and 3 programmes.

  • To transfer the results of the pilot actions to the rest of the regional programmes and interventions of the Structural Funds in the region.

  • To promote interregional collaboration with other European regions by means of networking, for the exchange of experiences and benchmarking purposes.

A second RPAI for the period 2006-2007 has been planned. This programme wanted to support region of La Rioja to develop towards a Regional Technological Strategy seeking sustainability, integrated into the EU and the world, allowing the region to reach the European objective of 3% R&D&I investment/GPD ratio by 2010.To achieve this goal the programme proposed:

  • To implement a technological innovation system based on the identification of technologies applied in competitor countries outside the EU and their application in “pilot projects” in La Rioja, developed in cooperation with European and international Centres of Excellence, and then transferring the experience to other sectors, Spanish and European regions;

  • To develop a technological sector in the region, linked to Life Protection and Personal Security contributing to the innovation of traditional economic sectors and to improving the quality of life of European citizens.