The Northern Growth Zone Creates Success
The Northern Growth Zone
The objective is to create:
- a sufficiently substantial platform for innovation and broad-based international activity
- a globally competitive market
- an integrated labour and economic area
- an attractive business environment and destination for investment, a leading northern European business initiative and a logistical corridor between Russia and Scandinavia.
Stockholm–Turku–Helsinki–St. Petersburg
The Northern Growth Zone is a northern Baltic zone stretching from Stockholm to St Petersburg designed to bring the area’s actors together to boost the region’s attractiveness and competitiveness in the global arena through the creation of a single, internationally recognized market, a single commuter belt and a world class industry and business cluster.
As an outstanding concentration of people, business, labour, education and research and a major logistic route, the Northern Growth Zone is the future of the northern Baltic Sea region.
The Growth Zone brings together representatives from the area’s key stakeholders, including central and local government agencies, the business sector, higher education institutions and research and development bodies to foster new, innovative, sustainable and smart business activities, generate new jobs and prosperity and secure the welfare of the region as a whole.
The Northern Growth Zone will generate added value through collaborative activities between central governments and industry clusters and genuine multiagency partnerships.
The Northern Growth Zone in the EU
The Growth Zone forms part of a larger entity, a Europe-wide market and transport network. The corridor stretching across southern Finland makes up the northernmost TEN-T Core Network Corridor between the EU and Russia. It is a key transport corridor for the European economy, providing a link between the north and south.
The true potential of the Northern Growth Zone is not derived from any single isolated factor but stems from the combined impact of a set of strengths.
When complete, the new Rail Baltic network currently under consideration will improve northern European links with the rest of the continent. A new transport solution called ”One Hour Train” is currently being envisaged. The vision is a brand new rail link between Espoo, Lohja and Salo that would cut down journey times between Helsinki and Turku to just one hour.
Competitiveness for the Whole Region
The Growth Zone stretching from Stockholm to St Petersburg is essential for the competitiveness of the whole region. Flexible, sustainable movement of people, knowledge and resources calls for joint long-term cooperation. The area’s large cities, Stockholm, Turku, Helsinki and St Petersburg, have a significant role to play, particularly in developing collaborative opportunities between the cities.
The Growth Zone will bring added competitiveness and deliver success for the entire area. The City of Turku is committed to the development of an integrated economic area, in which the trade, tourism and wider business sectors will be able to improve their commercial potential and competitiveness through improved logistical and information networks. Read more: www.businessturku.fi