The Swedish county of Norrbotten has handed over the chairmanship of the Barents Regional Council to Arkhangelsk. For the next two years the Russian Oblast will be in charge of promoting the important regional dimension of the Barents Cooperation.
“We have high confidence in that better cooperation across borders can contribute to a strengthening of the economy in the Barents Region. Thus we are looking forward to a good cooperation on all levels and working bodies of the regional council and the regional committee”, says Orlov.
The development of mineral resources and the improvement of transport and logistics infrastructure in the Barents region, will be among the most important efforts for the Arkhangelsk chairmanship.
“We are looking forward to be an active leader for the group on transport and logistics. The joint working group on tourism will also be an important focus area for our chairmanship”.
Arkhangelsk will support programs aimed at business promotion for youth, especially within tourism.
“This can be an important measure to prevent negative demographic tendencies”
Arkhangelsk also has a plan of creating a hi-tech knowledge intensive cluster in the Barents region, which will provide qualified human resources to the High North.
Other important focus areas for the new chairmanship is to develop Arctic technology, to improve port infrastructure in the Barents region and the development of cross-border mobility and communication is another focus area.
