Baltic Metropoles

Baltic Metropoles (BaltMet) is a network of the major metropolises around the Baltic Sea. Mayors of Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Malmö, Oslo, Riga, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vilnius and Warsaw have joined forces in order to enhance the competitiveness and integration of the Baltic Sea - the leading macro-region of Europe in terms of growth and innovation.

Mare Nostrum is clearly a region of contradictions. However, particularly these differences offer the cities of the region competitive advantages in the global competition for business and investment. The special dynamism of the Baltic Sea area lies in the growth potential of the new EU member states, the huge market potential of North-Western Russia and the most effective innovation systems of the old EU member countries.

Baltic metropolises, the hot spots of the growth process, take part in the global competition for the flows of capital and know-how. On their own, they have difficulties to succeed. In order to gain the advantages of the economy of size, increasing integration of the metropolitan areas is inevitable. Therefore networking - intensified co-operation and harsher competition - is considered as the BaltMet mission. Co-operation makes us bigger, competition smarter. In this competition, cities try to reform their old structures in order to improve the city as an attractive location for international investment and companies as well as for talented workers.

The BaltMet network has started two INTERREG projects, namely BaltMet Inno and BaltMet Invest. The BaltMet Inno project intends to create common understanding of the local innovation policy strategies and to connect the relevant innovation policy actors representing science, business and public authorities across the Baltic Sea. The BaltMet Invest will develop coordinated investment strategies for the three capitals of the Baltic States. In the Mayors'

Meeting in Berlin in February this year, the BaltMet Mayors consolidated their commitment to enhancing innovation and brain circulation in the Baltic Sea Region. In their latest meeting in Stockholm in October they also expressed their interest in supporting environmental investments and the development of transport corridors.

BaltMet looks forward to co-operation with the UBC and other networks involving cities and states of the Baltic Sea in order to develop Mare Nostrum further on as the most competitive region in regard of sustainable growth and innovation.