Regional cooperations

Süderelbe AG is the central point of contact for companies, investors and local authorities in the southern Metropolitan Region of Hamburg. The joint-stock corporation supports companies intending to move to the area and offers numerous projects and services to encourage the economic development of the Süderelbe region.

The goal of the association Wachstumsregion Emsachse e.V. is to enhance the profile of a common economic region, which forms a modern economic and traffic axis in Northwest Germany, while simultaneously consolidating the economic growth and creating additional jobs.
In (currently) seven working groups, many entrepreneurs and other protagonists are actively engaged in developing and realising projects. Every local authority looks after one priority field: energy (District of Aurich); the collective maritime economy (District of Leer), tourism (District of Wittmund), plastics production (District of Grafschaft Bentheim), metal construction, vehicle construction and mechanical engineering (District of Emsland), PPP (Public-Private-Partnerships) in the building industry (District of Grafschaft Bentheim), and logistics (City of Emden).

Five administrative districts in Niedersachsen along the A 1 motorway have joined forces to become the Growth Region Hansa Line (“Wachstumsregion Hansalinie”), an alliance that is to be deepened in joint projects with companies and businesses. Each administrative district organises the building up of an industry platform in one of five regional competence fields: “logistics” (District of Cloppenburg), the food industry (District of Vechta), mechanical engineering and plant construction (District of Osnabrück), the plastics industry (District of Diepholz), and Environmentally Compatible Technologies (District of Oldenburg).

The City of Wilhelmshaven and the administrative districts of Friesland, Wesermarsch and Wittmund have joined forces as business location marketers to foster and promote the economic development of the "JadeBay Region". In order to unlock growth potential and smooth the way for effective industrial settlement, every customer is given access to a comprehensive range of services.

As part of its location marketing activities, "Jade Wirtschaftsförderung" displays, for example, an extensive portfolio of commercial and industrial sites on its Internet presence. In doing so, it is one of the first location marketing organisations in Niedersachsen to also enable a virtual visit of the locations to be conducted – with support from KomSIS.de. Visitors to the website can start an interactive "aerial round trip" over the locations and access the extensive business site and location profiles of the local authorities from the KomSIS.de portal in the process.

The Oldenburger Münsterland association was founded in 1995 by the administrative districts of Cloppenburg and Vechta to exploit common strengths in the competition among business locations and regional travel destinations. The tasks of the association are to communicate the merits of the region for business, recreation and living in and to support regional initiatives of the inhabitants, clubs and societies and companies in the Oldenburger Münsterland area. On its Internet site, the association presents the locational and business potential of the region with the integration of the KomSIS.de search facility for industrial and commercial sites and properties, several company databases according to specific industries, and additional economic information.

The mission of the Private-Public Partnership initiative is to create new jobs with the help of a growth concept and to successfully position the region in the competition among business locations. 20 growth projects and regional research cooperations make up the core of current activities and are presented on the Internet site.

In its function as a cooperation alliance, RIS Weser-Ems has strongly consolidated its position in the region over the last 10 years as a voluntarily bound framework for action. Within the state of Niedersachsen, RIS Weser-Ems is seen as exemplary in its capacity as a regional, “grassroots” developed and funded innovation network. It rests largely on existing regional facilities and institutions. The prime objective of RIS is to promote growth, competitiveness and employment in the key areas of economic importance for the region.

The RegIS regional network comprises 24 administrative districts and self-governing cities from Niedersachsen, the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven, the knowledge and technology transfer agency Dialog and the company regio gmbh (institute for regional development and information systems) at the University of Oldenburg, and several chambers of commerce in Germany's Northwest. The network partners from the field of economic development and business promotion have now been working successfully for 20 years on presenting and strengthening the region through joint projects and the region's central business portal in the Internet: “RegIS-Online”.

Strength through cooperation. This was one of the central objectives the districts of Hameln-Pyrmont, Holzminden and Schaumburg intended to achieve when they joined forces in 1999 under the “Weserberglandregion” alliance. The professed aim was to elaborate a joint strategy among the district administrations for the future development of the Weserbergland region. When the district government of Nienburg/Weser joined the regional development cooperation in 2006, the “Regionale Entwicklungskooperation (REK) Weserbergland plus” was founded. In the update of the Weserbergland plus regional development cooperation concept for the period 2007 through 2013, the particular focus is on the three priority themes of “Energy Region Weserbergland plus”, “Health Region Weserbergland plus”, and “Rural Structures”.

With the programme designated by the acronym RITTS (Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategies and Infrastructures), the European Union promotes regions that want to strengthen their innovative capacities and improve their standing in the competition between regions. The EU funding supports regions in elaborating and implementing an innovation and technology transfer strategy. This task has been the concern of the RITTS Lüneburg network since 1999. This regional alliance comprises chambers of industry and commerce, the Regional Representation of the Niedersachsen Government in Lüneburg, the Europe Office, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts, the University of Lüneburg, the NBank, the district and city government representatives, the employment agencies and representatives of the local business promotion agencies, and entrepreneurs. The network operates in a subject-oriented manner and is therefore constantly open to additional protagonists with ideas.