The purpose of the regional economic strategy
Introduction
The East of England has been one of the fastest-growing regional economies in the UK. It benefits from a number of major assets - such as globally renowned research departments and institutes, leading companies in growing markets, major new investment to expand international ports and a strong relationship with London, the world’s leading financial centre. It also has many inspirational places including some of the UK’s finest natural habitats and over a quarter of England’s historic market towns.
The next few years are likely to be a period of accelerating change for our region - the pressures of globalisation will increase, we will need to respond to the effects of climate change and our region will continue to experience considerable growth. How we address these challenges and capitalise on our opportunities will contribute to the region’s wider sustainable development objectives and affect the quality of life of the region’s population.
This regional economic strategy (RES) sets out a vision, bold targets and priorities so that we can drive forward as a globally competitive region. In short, the strategy shows where we want to go and how we will get there. The strategy is owned by the region, and will be delivered through the collective work of political, business and community leaders and institutions.
The RES is published alongside the following supporting documents, which can be found on the downloads page:
- a final evidence base, analysing the economic performance of the region and the market failures the RES is designed to address
- a new environment-economy modelling report that underpins RES CO2 and resource-use targets and policies
- a final integrated sustainability appraisal statement and an additional investigation into the impacts of growth on biodiversity, flood risk, the historic environment and landscape
In addition, regional partners are now working collaboratively to produce a joint implementation plan for the regional economic and spatial strategies. This will continue work to prioritise policies and actions.