Regional Industrial Policy Seminar 3: Internationalisation policies for a future oriented regional manufacturing sector

This seminar took place in the Shannon region, Ireland, on 12-13 June 2017.

While it is well known that Ireland’s industrial strategy has a strong focus on foreign direct investment, it also strongly supports the international expansion of domestic companies. The Shannon region, not least through the efforts of the agency Shannon Development, was a pioneer of these initiatives and during these two days has acted as an arena for discussion on internationalisation-related matters. With speakers from the Shannon region and from different regions across Europe, the seminar featured both local and European experiences in the internationalisation field. Decision makers and influencers of regional policy discussed their practices and lessons learned on effective institutional cooperation, support measures and company practices in a global business environment. Representatives from companies participated and shared their experiences.

The following questions were analysed and debated during the two-day event:

• What do regional internationalisation policies look like, how do they support companies’ internationalisation and how do they coordinate with national policies?

• How do administrations in various European regions cooperate across national borders and along supply chains to jointly foster their internationalisation?

• What specific instruments and policy measures are in place at a sub-national level to support the internationalisation activities of regional firms?

• Why and how do companies engage in internationalisation activities, what are the main challenges they face and how do they tackle them?

​The Regional Industrial Policy Seminars are part of the pilot project The Future of Manufacturing in Europe , an EU-financed project which has been delegated to Eurofound. The aim of these seminars is to investigate the role of regional actors and policies promoting employment in light of the very significant economic and technological challenges and opportunities for manufacturing in Europe.

Pilot project: Future of Manufacturing in Europe (FOME)

Seminar proceedings: Regional Industrial Policy Seminar 3 - June 2017