And because of this success, the Austrian town will no longer have this status and will now be considered as a natural effect region after 2006.

Dr Heinrich Wedral has been the director of Burgenland Regional Government’s EU funding since 1994 and has also occupied several different positions within the Burgenland government.

In a presentation to Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, Dr Wedral explained the ingredients behind his region’s success story. Among these he mentioned the importance of having a clear vision and a set of strategies; having an efficient regional authority to coordinate the EU funding; and, most importantly, figuring out the priorities.

Dr Wedral continued by saying that the region also had to identify the project and choose the most important ones and team up with the private sector in order to achieve what is expected. Another important ingredient was supporting investors in their initiatives by providing them with the much-needed technologies and facilities.

And important initiative taken by Burgenland in recent years was the development of six technology centres where investors can set up office and operate from there. These centres cover just over 50,000 square metres of space.

Moreover, the region also invested heavily in the

development of its touristic enterprises because high quality tourism yields high quality investment.

One of its main projects was the creation of three natural parks in collaboration with neighbouring villages and with Hungary, with which it bord-

ers, and also in collaboration with the private sector which

is needed in order to increase competitiveness.

Dr Wedral also explained that basic strategies taken on board included more accessibility to the Trans European Transport Network.

Drawing comparisons to his region, Dr Wedral said Malta could benefit a great deal from the objective one status it was given by the European Union, adding that Malta could easily become a Mediterranean hub, joining the European coun-

tries with North Africa and

the southern Mediterranean countries.