EPRC at Swiss conference on location promotion and regional policy

John Bachtler was an invited speaker at the 2014 edition of the annual International Benchmarking Forum in Basel on 12 and 13 June 2014. The event was organised by BAK Basel and looked at ways to improve regional economic development as well as location quality. John Bachtler presented an overview of regional policy approaches in Europe, putting Swiss regional policy into an international context. Other presentations looked, for instance, at the role of metropolitan regions and at a variety of location factors, such as taxation, accessibility, innovation capacity, business-friendliness and qualified manpower. The event provided an opportunity to exchange experiences amongst stakeholders from regional and national governments as well as other practitioners and academics.