Balkan R&I centre created
Ministers in the Western Balkans have signed a deal to establish a new regional research and innovation centre.
The Western Balkans Research and Innovation Centre (WISE) will be based in the Croatian city of Split. WISE will host a range of scientific activities with contributors drawn from throughout Europe, including the European Commission and World Bank, with a focus on high technology.
The centre includes the participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Its establishment follows a series of deals signed since 2009 with the assistance of the World Bank, European Commission, and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) to increase regional R&I collaboration. The centre will also accompany the work of the Strategy for the Danube Region and Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region as well as be designated as an international organisation.
Speaking at the start of a high-level conference about the South East Europe 2020 strategy (SEE 2020), Goran Svilanovic, secretary-general of the RCC, said: “What we see as a key strength of the RCC’s SEE 2020 development strategy for the region, is its capacity to build cross-sectoral regional co-operation. Therefore we look forward to facilitating co-operation between the R&I sector and other sectors essential for economic growth and covered by the SEE 2020 Strategy, in particular trade, industry and SMEs to facilitate development of mechanisms needed for transfer of innovation – since, as we all know, invention does not automatically lead to application.”
Svilanovic, who opened the ministerial conference with Croatian First Deputy Prime Minister Vesna Pusic, added that collaboration within the Western Balkans was key in order to help secure funds from Horizon 2020.
“Regional co-operation in the field of research and innovation is necessary for the facilitation of participation of the Western Balkans in the related EU programmes, such as the Innovation Union and Horizon 2020. By building capacities to join these programmes, we are directly building institutional capacities for EU accession processes.”
Six Balkan states became associate countries with the EU research and innovation framework programme in 2014.
