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SOUTH WEST
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GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
South West is situated in the extreme south western part of England. The region covers 23,837kmē, representing almost 10% of the total area of the United Kingdom. The region is bounded to the east by the South East region and to the north east by the West Midlands Region. There is also a short border with Wales to the north. All the rest of the region is bordered by coastline. The principal cities are Bristol, Plymouth and Bournemouth. The region has a population of 4,928,458 with a density of 207/kmē.
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INFRASTRUCTURES
The region has modern infrastructures. The region is well served by two important motorways, connecting to London, South East, the Midlands, The North and Wales. Rail links are also good in the north of the region - fast Inter-city services connect with London, the South East, the Midlands and the North. However, there are significant rail and road infrastructure issues in the rest of the region. |
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ECONOMY
Although the importance of agriculture has declined, it has remained important to the economy in certain parts of the region. This sector represented 2.0% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the region. The production industry sector represented 28.1% of the GVA of the region. The services sector however is thus slightly under-represented compared to the national average, with a share of 69.9%. Tourism is important in the region, especially in Cornwall. The Regional GDP per head (PPS) (2001 EU15 = 100) is 122.40.
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LABOUR MARKET
There are 242300 employees in the region (77,8% of the population). The unemployment rate is 3,02% of the active population (the female one is 2,80%). The employment rate is 60,40% (male employment rate is 66,90%, while the female one is 53,90%).The percentage (of total employment) of employment in agriculture is 1,83%, the percentage of employment in industry is 22,60%, the percentage of employment in services is 75,30%.
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DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
The western part of the region belongs to EU objective 1, while some parts in the central area belong to EU objective 2 for the period 2000-2006.
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The total amount of public investments (% of GDP) in R&D is 0.52%, the total amount of private investments is 1.58%, the total amount of Government investments is 0.28%, and the total amount of University investments is 0.24%.
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DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS
The RPIA in the South West of England was called 'Inspire South West' and was implemented during the period 2003-2004. The total budget for this programme was Euro 6.26 million (EU - Euro 2.99 million, public - Euro 2.99million, private - Euro 0.29 million from the).
Inspire South West focused on the strengths of the South West economy and sought to address and improve the weaknesses, so that the region as a whole uses innovation as the key enabling force for improved and sustainable economic performance. Inspire South West strove to ensure that exchange of knowledge and ideas and taking risks with new ideas would be exciting, vibrant and expected, not unexpected. It also experimented with innovative ways to disseminate information to SMEs and regional partners using new technology. Thus the programme sought to generate a culture of innovation in the region, and develop new information and support services to businesses to ensure they add to the economic growth of the region.
Three main lines of action were implemented:
- Look Forward: The purpose of this action was to encourage South West businesses and support organisations to make greater use of knowledge for competitive advantage. Key to this action was: Generating value added and commercially relevant information on future markets for key technologies relevant to the South West; Taking a positive, optimistic approach to SME's, seeking novel methods of information dissemination, analysis and interpretation in order to do this, including providing opportunity for high quality dialogue and interaction between business and researchers/information providers .
- Changing Culture: The purpose of this action was to promote an understanding of innovation and technology amongst the wider public, students and businesses; to inspire businesses to be innovative; to encourage celebration and pride in being innovative.
- Innovative Business: The purpose of this action was to provide direct, practical support to regional businesses, especially SMEs and those businesses in Objective 1 and 2 areas, which will encourage them to take an innovative approach to all aspects of business planning and development (including product development, marketing and meeting customers needs), to take up the innovation support services which are on offer, encourage greater participation in networks and improve their access to funding.
There was also an emphasis on reaching companies which did not have access innovation support services by encouraging a realisation that innovation is a key driver in maintaining business competitiveness.
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