23 June 2016
Orkestra is part of a cross-border consortium between Aquitaine, the Basque Country and Navarre, comprised of the Gipuzkoa Chamber of Commerce, CCI Bayonne, and the Navarre Development Association SA (Sodena), which has been selected by the Spain-France-Andorra territorial co-operation programme (POCTEFA 2014-2020) in its first call.
POCTEFA 2014-2020 is a European territorial co-operation programme created to stimulate the sustainable growth of the cross-border territory between the three countries. The programme promotes cross-border co-operation projects designed and run by actors on both sides of the Pyrenees and in the coastal areas that participate in the programme preserving the smart, sustainable and integrated development of the territory.
Our project, referred to by its acronym COMPETITIV’EKO, seeks to contribute to axis 1 (‘Dynamise innovation and competitiveness) of POCTEFA via the development of an ecosystem of cross-border business collaboration in the Aquitaine, Navarre and Basque Country space. To this end we will work on strengthening channels of business and institutional collaboration. Thus, amongst the results anticipated in the mid-and short term are the obtention of a dynamic of sustainable co-operation; consideration of strengths of the cross-border space in the RIS3 strategies of the three territories; and, in the long term, an improved culture of business and institutional co-operation.
This project is the result of a strategic collaboration between Bihartean (Cross-border chamber of commerce formed by CCI Bayonne and Chamber of Gipuzkoa) and Orkestra which has been developing since 2013. A collaboration made possible by the support of AECT Euskadi – Aquitania and notable for the combination of analytical skills and interaction. The former contributed in the main by Orkestra; and the latter by Bihartean.
Under the framework of COMPETITIV’EKO Orkestra will also play an analytical role, providing knowledge during each phase of the project which in combination with that of the other partners and experimentation will generate new knowledge.
The COMPETITIV’EKO Project has been selected from over 122 candidatures, which applied for a total of 151 million Euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). 58 projects were finally approved, with 71.2 million Euros in funding.
