STRATEGY OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

							          STRATEGY OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

                                  Rita Bagdzevičienė

     Strategy of regional economic development is aimed at balancing the development
of Lithuania’s economy from regional aspects, seeking of even development of regional
economy and their economic and social cohesion. The strategy was prepared in carrying
out the evaluation of constituent parts of the long-term development strategy of
Lithuania’s economy from regional aspect and proposing the most proper positioning of
the measures foreseen for the national economic development and their application in
the regions.
     The preamble gives a survey of legal acts regulating economic policy in national
regions (Law on Regional Development, Law on Budget Structure, etc., strategic
planning methods, etc.). The first chapter covers the analysed classical theories of
economic development that are widely applied in foreign countries for identifying the
role of national, regional and local authorities in the economic development of regions
and in the system of measures implementing thereof. Theory of social developments
stages, export-based theory and other experience of Western countries in developing
economically weak, depressive regions are reviewed in the strategy: the main trends of
regional development, methods and measures for regional economic development are
revealed.
     The second chapter gives an evaluation of the economic state in the national
regions: components of the regional economic development, a complex of criteria for
evaluation of the regional situation are identified, reasons for the uneven development
of regions are revealed.
     The third chapter surveys Lithuania’s regional policy: stages and characteristic
features of regional policy formation. The fourth chapter provides a generalised SWOT
table of factors for regional economic development, identifies the vision of the regional
economic development, State mission and strategic goals of regional economic
development.
     The final part of the strategy covers the plan for implementation of measures of
strategy, focusing major attention to the assurance of favourable conditions for
investments into the regional economy, physical and social infrastructure development
in the regions, for optimisation of functions of State institutions responsible for
implementation of regional policy.