Annual Meeting of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Development – 10th-11th April 2017, in Prague, Czech Republic

Press Release

28/03/2017 – Local economic and employment development is crucial to building more productive economies and inclusive societies.

Exploring how local partnerships between public agencies, businesses and civil society groups can boost local dynamism will be at heart of the annual meeting of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Development to be held on 10-11 April in Prague.

Opened by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Mari Kiviniemi and addressed by the Czech Minister for Regional Development Karla Šlechtová, the international meeting will look at how to boost productivity, job creation and inclusion from the bottom-up.

Almost 300 local development practitioners, including representatives from government bodies, public employment services, youth organisations, social enterprises, businesses and educational institutions will come together to share local lessons and experiences. The focus of the meeting will be on means of investing in skills for local needs and promoting SME and entrepreneurship growth and productivity. Contemporary issues including growth in social enterprises, innovation in public employment services, the future of work and building higher value-added production will also be addressed through a local lens.

The meeting will take place in English and Czech (for plenaries only) at Slovanský Dům, Na Příkopě 22, 11000 in Prague. All sessions are open to the media.

Confirmed speakers also include:

• Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Local Development and Tourism
• Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague
• Erik Stam, Professor, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Paul Thompson, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada
• Rosa M. Fernandez, Economic Adviser, Local Growth Analysis, Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, United Kingdom
• Michal Kadera, External Affairs Director,  ŠKODA AUTO, Czech Republic
• Frank Neffke, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Growth Lab
• Joseph Parilla, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution

Read the full agenda.

To register attendance, journalists should contact Vilem Frček (tel. +420 724 639 428).

Click here for more information about the work of the OECD LEED (Local Economic and Employment Development) programme.

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