South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

South East Takes New Step Towards World Class Status

24 October 2007

SEEDA launches Implementation Plan for the Regional Economic Strategy

The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is to unveil the Implementation Plan for the Regional Economic Strategy (RES) for the South East 2006-2016 at its Annual Open Public Meeting, to be held in Milton Keynes tomorrow.

The RES sets out the vision for the South East to become a world-class region achieving sustainable prosperity by 2016.

The RES Implementation Plan is the result of detailed consultations and sets out for partners and stakeholders throughout the South East a framework of priority actions to enable the region to reach the three key objectives of the RES: Global Competitiveness, Smart Growth and Sustainable Prosperity.

The RES 2006-2016 has already influenced Government policy. The strategy, which was published in October 2006, is reinforced by the Stern Review, which sets out the business case for action to deliver environmental sustainability; the Energy White Paper, which sets out the Government’s plans for a low-carbon future; and both the Leitch and Sainsbury Reviews, which aim to focus efforts on securing a strong skills base to match the best in the world and invest in the knowledge transfer to win the ‘race to the top’.

The principles of the Implementation Plan have been used to guide the development of the actions required to achieve each of the three RES objectives;

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS: principles involve strengthening the South East in research, development and innovation
SMART GROWTH: principles involve strengthening the interplay between enterprise, skills, innovation, competition and investment, employment and quality of life.
SUSTAINABLE PROSPERITY: involves enhancing the environment social and lifestyle offer to keep the region attractive as a place to live, work and do business.

SEEDA Chief Executive Pam Alexander will be speaking at the Open Public Meeting, alongside SEEDA Chairman James Brathwaite and the SEEDA Board Members. Pam says: “The Regional Economic Strategy for the South East broke new ground in identifying practical policies for our future sustainable prosperity. It provided a clear direction for the journey rather than a precise map of the route. The Implementation Plan now sets out how we will move forward together. By continuing to align our programmes with national, regional and local partners across the public, private, voluntary and community sectors we can create the momentum needed to invest in success, lift underperformance and ensure our continued quality of life.”

For further information on the RES and the RES Implementation Plan please visit the SEEDA website at www.seeda.co.uk.