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Sweden’s problems region, Skåne is falling behind the rest of the country

Wednesday, 20 June 2012
It is hard to believe that the southern Swedish region of Skåne could be what geographers describe as a problem region. This is because this region has been described by the OECD as falling behind the rest of the country in terms of most aspects of development.

The OECD notes in a report presented on Wednesday in which it point among other things, that there is a major integration problems and the lowest employment rates of all regions in Sweden.

Skåne is a region lagging behind, writes the economic cooperation organization in the OECD report "Skåne's strengths and challenges," presented on Wednesday. The report is written on behalf of Region Skåne.

OECD raises, among other things, Scania's major integration problems and that in 2010 had the lowest employment rate in the country. While the authors emphasize the advantages of the region's medical cluster and writing that Skåne "is clearly well positioned to become one of the OECD's most competitive regions."

The initiator of the report is Pia Kinhult, Chairman of the Regional Executive for Region Skåne. And despite the OECD's harsh conclusions, she is pleased with the report.
"The OECD has forced us to twist and turn on ourselves and see our strengths and weaknesses, "she says.

 "I am positively surprised that we are considered to be such a strong innovation region. They compare us with California and London. But I am negatively surprised by our lack of matching on the labour market and our weak GDP per-capita growth. "

The report highlights four problems with the Skåne region: growth is low, racial segregation is high, employment rates are the lowest in Sweden and educational gaps in wide.

Three advantages of Skåne Skåne, though are that the region is a "Knowledge and technology hub" and that the region consumes relatively little energy,  as well as well-developed public transport.

OECD's description of the weaknesses and strengths are concrete. But the recommendations at the end of the report are hardly crystal clear. The OECD say that Skåne can do more to "use its innovation capabilities in order to secure growth" and "promote cross-border clusters and innovation work."

Other recommendation s are to reduce youth unemployment, through focus on vocational training and apprenticeships - actions that require a good working relationship with the private sector, as well as try and improve cultural diversity.

The work on the report began in autumn 2010 and in total, Region Skåne and the EU paid Skr7 million for the work, of which about Skr3 million was contributed by the OECD.
By Scancomark.se Team























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