Euregio
Meuse-Rhine
At the
intersection of the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and
Germany, with Aachen, Liège and Maastricht as its largest towns,
the Euregio Maas-Rhine is home to 3.8 million people. An
increasing number of founders and existing companies actively
exploit the numerous advantages offered in our region through the
direct proximity to these borders.
For over ten years now AGIT has cultivated a growing euregional
network, primarily with the regional
economic development agencies SPI+,
WfG
Ostbelgien, NV
Industriebank LIOF and GOM
Limburg on the Belgian and Dutch sides of the border. Its goal
is to further improve the climate for new companies and investment
in the Euregio and strengthen the economic co-operation between
the regions. A main emphasis lies in the establishment of
euregional networks in selected technological fields, e.g. in the
joint initiative INeurope
Life Sciences.
To improve the exploitation of European funding in the region, an
euregional information service on EU-funding programmes was set up
and is managed by AGIT. The Eurode
Business Centre,
located directly on the German-Dutch border in Kerkrade (NL) and
Herzogenrath (D), was opened in June 2001 and houses numerous
service providers.
Contact:
Victoria Appelbe M.A.
Fon +49 (0)241/963-1060
Fax +49 (0)241/963-1033
v.appelbe@agit.de
INeurope Life
Sciences
The INeurope
Life Sciences project was originally set up in 1999 by the
euregional economic developers AGIT, NV Industriebank LIOF, City
of Maastricht and SPI+. The field of life sciences (medical and
biotechnology) was chosen for cross-border collaboration since all
three regions have considerable and diverse strengths in this area.
The main initial objective was inward investment attraction by
means of joint marketing of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. The economic
and R&D potential of the Euregio in life sciences was
presented at numerous regional, national and international trade
fairs and conferences.
These activities are now being extended in order to meet the
growing demand for cross-border knowledge transfer, for
information brokering and for assistance with cross-border
business relations. This second project phase will be realised
together with the RWTH Aachen, the University of Liège and the
University of Maastricht. This collaboration aims at an integrated
and sustainable approach to the stimulation of life sciences in
the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Financial support from the European Union
is being sought until 2004.
