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Flemish government listens to external stakeholders |
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Flemish government listens to external stakeholders
The aim of the Flemish Government's action plan: 2020 Flanders in Action (ViA), is to make Flanders into a top region by 2020. To do so, Flanders needs to be more open to the international community and global economy. The government therefore wanted to have an "outside-in" view from 3 important groups of observers: International citizens, living outside and inside Belgium, with an active connection to Flanders and also Flemish people living abroad. Synthetron was selected by tender to provide the research. At the beginning of September, three moderated Synthetron interactive discussions took place with the three different stakeholder groups we consulted (Flemish people living abroad, international citizens living abroad and international citizens living in Belgium/ Flanders). The feedback converged on several themes. They identified some of Flanders' strong points and were honest enough to confront the weak points Flanders needs to address. You can find the reports by clicking these links:
International stakeholders report: http://www.vlaandereninactie.be/nlapps/data/docattachments/ViA%20Synthetron%20Report%20EN.pdf
Flemish stakeholders report (In Dutch): http://www.vlaandereninactie.be/nlapps/data/docattachments/ViA%20Synthetron%20Report%20NL.pdf
The results were shared to kick off the recent local stakeholders' meeting on the theme "International Flanders" - part of the "Flanders in Action" program - led by Karel Van Miert, former commissioner of the EC, and attended by the Flemish government PM and ministers. Throughout the day the 200 participants were reminded of what the "outside-in" stakeholders told them, keeping the debate honest and productive.
The Synthetron results were first page news for the business newspaper "De Tijd" see link http://www.tijd.be/dossier/internationalisering/
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