STRATEGIA TRANSFRONTALIERĂ INTEGRATĂ

HATÁRMENTI INTEGRÁLT STRATÉGIA

CROSS-BORDER INTEGRATED STRATEGY

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS CENTER

HURO/1101/175/2.1.1.

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IntroductionThe present analysis has been made within the framework of the project BHB- SUSTAIN-ABLE DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS CENTER, contract HURO/1101/175/2.1.1, between March 2013 and February 2014. The main goal of the analysis and of the present docu-ment has been a SWOT analysis of the business environment of the Bihor and Hajdú-Bi-har counties and to deliver a strategy for the sustainable development of the business environment in the Romanian-Hungarian cross-border area.

Methodology of SWOT analysis. Data SourcesIn order to establish the stregths, the weaknesses, the threats and the opportunities that describe the workings of the business environment from the investigated area we have collected, analyzed and interpreted multiple types of data:- Field survey with representatives of the businesses from the two participating

counties (May-June 2013);- Online survey with representatives of the business environment in the two counties

(November 2013);- Focus group discussion with business managers and owners in Bihar county;- Content analysis of recent SWOT analyzes of the business environment in the area,

at the local, county or regional level;- Official statistics published by the national statistical services of the two counties.Document analysisWithin this activity we have codified using a SWT analysis framework the following an-alytical or strategic documents: - Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme 2007-2013, Final Evalu-

ation Report, KPMG, 21 Decembrie 2013, available at http://huro-cbc.eu/en/file_download/1368

- Strategia de dezvoltare durabilă a județului Bihor 2014-2020. Partea I-a: Analiza situației existente în județul Bihor, Romactiv (draft), retrieved on April 2nd 2014 from http://www.cjbihor.ro/pdf/Analiza%20diagnostic.pdf

- Summing Situation Assessment of Hajdú-Bihar County (SWOT Analysis), VICLI, 2010, available at http://vicli.progetti.informest.it/documenti/ungheria/Haidu/Haj-dú-Bjar.pdf

- Barbu, I. Barbu Sergiu-A., 2012, Analysis of Rural Tourism Potential of Region Crișa-na, Analele Universității din Oradea, seria Științe Economice, pp. 216-22.

- Popoviciu, G. 2010, An Analysis of Developments in the Bihor (Ro)-Hajdú-Bihar (H) Euroregion, Romanian Journal of Geography, 54(1) 61-67, 2010.

- Hajdú-Bihar Megye felkészülése a 2014-2020-as tervezésre, Szechenyi Programiroda, VOP 214-11-2011-0001, retrieved on April 2nd 2014 from http://szechenyipro-gramiroda.hu/download/Orszagos-Szakmai-Forumsorozat/Eloadasok-anyaga/Debrecen/1-Hajdú-Bihar-Megye-ver1.ppt

- Raportul Analizei SWOT (focus group iunie 2013 cu reprezentanți ai firmelor Bihorene)- Planul Urbanistic General Oradea, Etapa 2, Concept General de Dezvoltare Urbană.

Masterplan Oradea 2030. - Strategia de dezvoltare locală a municipiului Oradea, ZMO 2011, available at http://

www.zmo.ro/ro/download/12-SDL%20Municipiul%20Oradea.pdf - Orașe competitive. Remodelarea geografiei economice a României, World Bank, 2013.

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The Bihor-Hajdú-Bihar region. General descriptionThe two counties that make up the referential of this study are similar in many ways. A simple social and economic comparison shows that even in terms area, population and density, the two counties are resembling each other. The same goes for economy mea-sured using GDP, the two counties having economies of comparable sizes.

Romania Bihor Hungary Hajdú-Bihar

Area (sqkm) 238391 7544 93030 6210

Popu-lation

(2011)21790479 575398 9906000 546721

Density 84,4/sqkm 73/ sqkm 107/ sqkm 88/ sqkm

GDP523693,3(mil-

lion Lei) (2010)

13345,4 (million Lei)(10th)=3455

mil Euro

26607339 (million

HUF)(2010)

1064950 (mil-lion HUF HUF)(5th) = 3817

mil E

The relief of the two counties determines in a large decree the differences in size of agri-cultural economics – while the Hungarian county has one of the largest area of farmland in Hungary (2nd in its country) and is one of the most important producers from the neighboring country, farmland areas in Bihor county are less generous given the sizeable portions covered by pastures, forests and mountains.

Results of the SWOT analysisStrengthsPlacement

» Placement at the border (border cross-ings and international traffic);

» Proximity of European capitals; » Placement on the bridge that joins

the economic center of Europe with Bucharest and Constanta;

» Hajdú-Bihar: the Tisza river is naviga-ble on a large portion and represents an important transport route.

Accessibility » Good access by air (both counties

have international airports), by rail-roads, and motorways.

» Large density of railroads and roads.

Natural and environment re-sources

» Natural and landscape treasures (Apuseni Mountains, Felix Spa, Hor-tobagy);

» Low pollution; » Bihor:

♦ The richest Romanian county in terms of mineral resources (complex ores, aluminum, ther-mal water);

♦ Significant potential for re-newable energy production – i.e. wind energy, hydro power plants, solar energy plants.

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Good governance » Bihor:

♦ Efficiency and effectiveness of local government in planning urban development, in Oradea especially.

» Hajdú-Bihar: ♦ Historical bases of municipal co-

operation; ♦ Tradition of self-government; ♦ Strong civil society.

Traditions of international co-operation

» Urban centers with traditional cross border relations (Oradea, Salonta, Mehkerek, Kötegyan) made possible mainly by the presence of a sizeble Hungarian community in Bihor coun-ty; the Romanian community in Hak-du-Bihar county is playing the same role in Hungary;

» There is in place an infrastructure for cross border economic cooperation which was set up though the Roma-nia-Hungary Cross Border Coopera-

tion Programme (ie Business Centers in Cefa, Săcueni etc.);

» Bihor: ♦ The presence of a large Hun-

garian population delivers the premises for cross border ex-changes.

» Hajdú-Bihar: ♦ In the Hungarian side there is a

tradition for twinning; ♦ The county has a tradition for in-

ternational cooperation.Human resources

» Strong human resources ♦ The dynamics and the structure

of demographics is better than in the rest of the two countries;

♦ A better capability of preserv-ing population – slower de-cline of population size, larger, cheaper and better educated labor force;

♦ Own higher education network; ♦ Lower unemployment rate than

the national average.

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Education » Complete educational infrastructure

(educational institutions in place at all levels, including higher educa-tion);

» Good network of secondary education institutions (the population that can be enrolled in secondary level (ISCED 2,3 and 4) education in the two counties can choose among a diverse and well spread in space network of schools;

» Training institutions able to develop good quality workforce;

» Good quality workforce – a good presence of specialists in all relevant domains in the active population.

Tourism and tourist potential » Training in domains associated with

tourism is well available in the edu-cational landscape of the two coun-ties;

» The tourist brand of the region is rec-ognized both within the two coun-tries as well as abroad

» The tourist potential of the region is put to work by plenty of tourist facili-ties, including those devoted to med-ical tourism;

» There are many possibilities for practicing some interesting forms of tourism – business, event (con-ferences), transit, cultural, religious and of adventure (especially in Bi-hor county).

Importance of research and de-velopment

» Bihor: ♦ A university center that has been

developing during the last 15 years, with around 20000 stu-dents in private and public uni-versities which answers to the regional demands of qualifica-tions and competencies.

» Hajdú-Bihar: ♦ Preeminent presence of ad-

vanced medical research and practice;

♦ Debrecen has scientific, edu-cational and cultural functions with large international rela-tions;

♦ University of Debrecen: educa-tional and research center with widespread international recog-nition and an age old scientific tradition;

Agriculture » Both Bihor and Hajdú-Bihar have a

significant agricultural potential; » Fertile agricultural areas and good

crops; » Bihor:

♦ Competitive processing sector. » Hajdú-Bihar:

♦ There are groups of farmers (as-sociations, cooperatives, enter-prises).

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Good entrepreneurial economy, good entrepreneurial organiza-tions and practices

» Good entrepreneurship capacity prov-en by a large number of enterprises;

» Large number of SMO at the local level;

» Good behavior of enterprises in the two counties regarding the obser-vance of legal duties, including the fiscal ones;

» An institutionalized development system, there are chambers of com-merce and business associations;

» Several local business support struc-tures are operating.

Economic diversity » There is a large and well developed

retail and en-gross trade sector; » There is a well developed financial

service sector; » There is a diversified industrial sec-

tor in areas: ♦ Building and construction mate-

rials; ♦ Food processing; ♦ Electronics; ♦ Textile and shoe manufacturing; ♦ Tourism; ♦ Pharmaceutics; ♦ Furniture and wood processing.

Good cooperation between the local authorities and the busi-ness sector

» The local government assured, through the implemented projects, quality ser-vices for the benefit of the investors: information, assistance, mediation of the relations with other institutions;

» Industrial parks (Debrecen Airport Business Park, Oradea Eurobusiness Park, Borș Industrial Park);

» Business incubators and business centers;

» There are chances for the development of industrial or business clusters.

Balanced economy » A quick recovery from the shock of

the economic crisis; » Land reserves of the municipalities

allow for the relocation of activities from the urban centers to new indus-trial areas;

» A large share of enterprises with for-eign capital;

» A large share of tertiary sector; » An increase in export performance of

the economies of the two counties; » Bihor: decrease in number of unem-

ployed; » Hajdú-Bihar: has a more balanced

economic structure with a significant presence of industries with high add-ed value (pharmaceutical industry, for example) and a better technologi-cal infrastructure.

OpportunitiesAcces to EU funds

» Greening activities: ♦ The importance of Conservation

Areas; ♦ The Improved use of European

funds for the development of re-newable energies.

Stabilization and growth of Eu-ropean and global markets

» Global and European markets are stabilizing and growing;

» European and global markets are growing in some locally developed economic sectors (agriculture, elec-tronics, pharmaceutical, tourism, health) followed by the dynamic dif-ferentiation of sub-markets.

Better use of workforce » Better planning of local training policy; » Cross-border mobility of workforce; » Cheap and well qualified workforce

encouraging the setting up of new enterprises.

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Improved use of business infra-structure and better business practices

» Better use of business improved; » Better understanding of the impor-

tance of cooperation in the area of business;

» Support and development of pub-lic-private partnerships;

» The cooperation of the private sector with the local authorities and with the higher education institutions and the Centers of Research and Develop-ment;

» Making use of existent SMO support governmental programs.

Investment in infrastructure and the development of infra-structure

» Using EU funds for the construction/rehabilitation of access infrastruc-ture;

» Large infrastructure investments, with potential large economic impact:

♦ Motorway building (A3 in Roma-nia, M35 and M4 – Hungary);

♦ Modernization of the Oradea Airport and introduction of in-ternational destinations;

» Investments of local authorities in in-frastructure, including the business infrastructure (ie Industrial Parks in Tileagd and Beiuș, etc.);

» Interest in the development of met-ropolitan areas.

Cross-border cooperation » Potential for logistic development of

county capital due to their placement near the border;

» Business and inter-institutional cross border links: ♦ Enlargement of markets; know-

how exchanges; strengthening of cross-border social and business networks; development of twin-ning links;

» Availability of cross border and re-gional cooperation funds.

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Increase in demand for tourist services

» Increase in popularity of health tour-ism, of event and thermal tourism;

» Increased international interest for tourism in natural reservations and for cultural tourism;

» Potential for development of health tourism (spa) due to thermal wa-ters and of existing swimming fa-cilities.

Increases in research, develop-ment and education

» The emergence of Debrecen as inter-national competitiveness pole;

» Larger private and public invest-ments in education;

» Better use of resources allotted for R&D and innovation.

Development of opportunities on specific niches

» The existence of multiple market niches for foodstuff, furniture and services.

European integration » Adoption of EU norms.

Risks and threatsEconomic crisis/extended stagnation

» Inflation and unemployment pro-voke decrease in demand;

» The lack of liquidities can provoke the closure of many businesses;

» Appearance of chains of arrears; » Blocked credit can produce financial

blocking and a halt on investments; » Insufficient resources for the co-fi-

nancing of EU funded projects; » The absence or the delay of coherent

policies devoted for the support of the business environment and of the

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institution of existing facilities for the jumpstart and stabilization of the business environment.

Lack of competence in management

» Failures of business management and marketing;

» Lack of necessary knowledge for set-ting up a business;

» SMOs are unprepared to face envi-ronmental, communication and man-agement issues.

Lack of competencies in the area of energy efficiencies and of so-cial responsibility

» Lack of regulations; » Lack of knowledge; » Lack of expertise.

Dishonest business practices » Price dumping; » Disrespect for intellectual property

rights.Decline of human resources

» Emigration (brain/skill drain) – large emigration rate, especially of those better qualified;

» Decline of quality of professional training.

Under provision of public goods » Public utilities of poor quality reduce

the attractiveness of the region; » The closure of rural schools can en-

tail an increase in analphabetism; » Corruption and the toleration of tax

evasion; » Lack of trust of business men/wom-

en in the public authorities.Political risks

» The region is avoided by major Euro-pean transport corridors;

» High level of taxation and red tape; » Legislative instability; » Non-functioning laws; » Lack of a coherent development vi-

sion at the local level; » Peripherizalization of Bihor county

due to planned regionalization; » Neglect of cultural heritage.

Competition from neighboring regions (especially in Romania)

» Advances of these regions in im-provements of business infrastruc-ture;

» Local regulations in matters of busi-ness;

» Emergence of competing develop-ment clusters;

» Waste of high performing human re-source.

WeaknessesIt is important to be mentioned that most of the issues following in the next section apply especially to Bihor county (Roma-nia). Problems of business infrastruc-ture

» Small number of SMOs; » Lack of associative structure in agri-

culture; » Low solidarity within the business

community; » Weak business consultancy service; » Absence of a properly developed ex-

hibition center; » The actual business incubators, most

of them set up with EU funding, are not enough;

» Weak support for local businesses on behalf of local authorities.

Weak cross border business ex-changes

» Small number of cross border busi-nesses (especially in Hungary) in ar-eas like: ♦ Sales; ♦ Subcontracting; ♦ Ventures and partnerships; ♦ Supply.

Economic resources deficit » Decline in investments; » Regress of some domains of the econ-

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omy (especially building); » Reduction in areas used in agricul-

ture; » Decline of wages; » Large urban/rural disparities; » Improper use of local produce and

insufficient preservation of local values.

Weak access to markets » Oradea is situated far from other

large cities.Deficits in tourism

» Absence of active measures of tourist promotion;

» Tourism potential ineffectively put in use;

» Monuments and public places with tourist value are degraded or not tak-en care of;

» Monument and tourist places are im-properly signaled;

» Religious monuments have not been introduced in tourist circuits through church museums;

» Small number of youth hostels and a low diversification of accommoda-tion opportunities in Oradea (hos-tels, villas);

» Absence of recreation centers.Bad infrastructure

» Lack of investments in transporta-

tion infrastructure; » Absence of international flights to

and from Oradea; » Sewage and water cleaning systems

old and with low capacity; » Absence of a cargo terminal at the

Oradea Airport.Ineffective R�D sector

» Low rate of investment in R&D, low participation of companies to infor-mation society;

» Little number of products and ser-vices with high added value;

» Underdeveloped research infrastruc-ture;

» Weak cooperation between the re-search centers and the business sec-tor.

Human resources deficit » Low wages; » Deficits in qualifications (not enough

qualified personnel, irrelevant or im-properly delivered qualifications);

» Extended informal sector; » Low activity rate; » Insufficient medical staff especially

in rural areas: medical facilities are insufficient and improper;

» Medical facilities are poorly equipped;

» Emigration of specialists; » Decline in student population.

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Proposals for strategic orientations, measures and actions

Development visionBusiness environment in Bihor-Hajdú-Bi-har cross border region:Competitive, profitable, integrated and open

The Chambers of Commerce from Bi-hor and Hajdú-Bihar counties are aiming at contributing to the increase in compet-itiveness of the business environment in their areas. This objective emerges from the recognition of the economic advantag-es of the two counties (good placement, good accessibility, good endowment with human resources and environmental re-sources, including those relevant for agri-culture and tourism, with strong, diverse and balanced economies, compared with others from their countries) but of the threats and risks they face: extended eco-nomic stagnation, lack of competencies in business management, in social respon-sible business practices and in assuring energy efficiency, the decline of human re-sources, and the perpetuation of dishonest economic practices that increase the costs of running businesses. These challenges are intensified by the accelerated global and regional competition for markets and

resources underlining the imperative need for improvement of economic actors of the region. The augmented competitiveness, manifested in the increase of added value of local products and services would bring about the growth of profitability of region-al businesses and of the natural beneficial effects upon investment rate, consumption and quality of life in the region – including a desired increase in net incomes in the Ro-manian side of the region.

One of the great challenges and oppor-tunities in the same time of the business environment across the border is their weak integration: being of similar size, largely complementary, wit h strong cul-tural and institutional ties, they are suffer-ing from a low level of mutual economic exchanges thus decreasing significantly their markets and the area of resources’ collection. This is peculiarly significant if we consider the relative isolation of the two county capitals from other important urban centers in their countries: Oradea especially misses large cities in the vicini-ty with which it could develop relations of economic synergy like the ones we find in the cases of Arad/Timisoara or Satu-Mare/Baia Mare. Debrecen, on its side, having

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Nyiregyhaza as the closest important lo-cality could take advantage of the growth in economic exchanges with the capital of the Romanian Bihor county. The growth of interaction of all sorts, especially of the business ones, in both directions is one of the strategic objectives of the activities that will be implemented by the Business Cen-ter. Deeper integration of the economies of the two counties should pursue not only to take advantage of potentials of the two markets but, mostly, to obtain synergies through the complementarities among the regions in various domains and stages of the production cycle. Local products and services will have thus a better distribu-tion in other markets. Moreover, some of

the aims of our activities is the promotion of an attractive local business environment helping outside investors to orientate their resources in a profitable manner and to in-tegrate themselves quickly into the cross border business environment.

Strategic objectives1. Development of businesses in the

cross border area;2. Increase of cross border exchanges

and interactions;3. Institutional development of the cross

border business environment;4. Contribution to the good governance/

improvement of public policies in the cross border area.

Detailed presentation of the strategic objectives, specific objectives, and of the measures

Strategic objective 1Development of businesses in the cross border areaSpecific objective 1.1Support for cross border business coopera-tion/facilitating contacts between industrial local producers and suppliers by strength-ening the cross border cooperation rela-tions among local business structures.Measures1. Development of an exhibition center

which will give with priority to local enterprises;

2. Organization of trade fairs in which priority is given to local enterprises;

3. Organization of exchange visits and bilateral visits foe local businessman and highlighting the success stories in the area of cross-border businesses;

4. Mutual promotion of companies, es-pecially of Romanian companies in Hungary;

5. Cooperation of farmers from the two counties in the area of international sales;

6. Support for companies in both coun-tries in their participation in tenders in both countries using specific mea-sures (promoting tenders in both lan-guages in the electronic media);

7. Counselling in the area of cross border businesses within the Center for Sus-tainable Business Development;

8. Mutual promotion using: 1) identifi-cation and promotion in the area of valuable resources and of the eco-nomic competitive advantages of the two counties; 2) highlighting the ad-vantages of the cross-border cooper-ation in the local promotional publi-cations.

Specific objective 1.2.Increasing the effectiveness of business in the cross border areaMeasures 1. Developing business consultancy in

main areas:a. Consultancy for green economy;b. Consultancy for energy efficiency

of the firms;

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c. Consultancy for corporate social responsibility;

d. Consultancy for business adminis-tration:

i. Training and support in busi-ness management;

ii. Training and support in market-ing (sales, branding), communi-cation and public relations;

iii. Protection from dumping and against copyright infringement.

e. Consultancy in accessing grants for enterprises:

i. For greening activities;ii. For developing renewable en-

ergies;iii. For financing applied R&D ac-

tivities.f. Consultancy in accessing bank

loans;g. Consultancy in entrepreneurship

(firm set up, elaborating business plan, etc.).

2. Promotion of businesses in the cross border area:

a. activities to promote local prod-ucts and services on the national, European and global markets:

b. support for participation of lo-cal businesses in network-ing events and attracting national and international investors:

c. Support of risk capital in the area of investment in technology and innovation.

d. Support for local tourism:i. Identification and promotion

of complementarities in tourist services in the two counties;

ii. Identification and promotion of regional tourist brand;

iii. Promotion of regional tourist resources;

iv. Development of applied re-search in the area of tourism (leisure studies, tourist econo-my, health and tourism etc.);

v. Participation in strengthening of human resources in tourism: training in tourism, support for education in the field (i.e. internships, practical learning, simulated enterprises etc.).

Strategic objective 2Increase of cross border exchanges and interactionsSpecific objective 2.1Development of cross border mediation servicesMeasures1. Expert services mediation (in import-

ant domains: agro-business, EU funds, insolvency etc.);

2. Support for vertical integration of re-gional businesses ( farming and food processing for example) by identifica-tion of the possibilities for integration, contract mediation, promotion of co-operation potential etc.;

3. Mediation among enterprises and in-stitutions and specialist in Research & Development via:

a. Support for the regional mobility of the researches – promotion of the human resources in the field of Research & Development;

b. Setting up a portal for local re-search and development insti-tutions as well as for individual researchers in order to assist the cooperation between the provid-ers and consumers of expertise.

4. Know-how transfer via cross border exchanges in areas in which the two counties are complementary:

a. Positive governance;b. Agricultural management and

marketing plus expertise in farm-ing (animal husbandry, cereal crops, vegetable growing);

c. Public-private partnerships posi-tive practices;

d. Taking advantage of twinning links

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and of twinning potential of the lo-calities around the border;

e. Training of staff in tourism and ru-ral tourism;

f. Taking advantage of historical, cul-tural and environmental treasures in the area;

g. Public support and commercial us-age of research results;

h. Fighting dishonest commercial practices.

Specific objective 2.2.Development of activities to support cross border exchanges and interactionsMeasures1. Cross-border educational fairs, espe-

cially for the secondary and the tertia-ry level;

2. Cross border tourist fairs – the mutual promotion of tourist services, resourc-es and facilities;

3. Facilitation of local partnerships in the field of scientific research among R&D institutions from the region (Hun-garian and Romanian cross-border universities participating in common bids for Horizon grants for example; common lobby for the reintroduction of research among the priority areas of the Hu-Ro program);

4. Setting up of an incubator for cross-border projects in priority ar-eas:

a. Environment;b. Administrative capacity;c. Tourism;d. Farming and food processing;e. Human resource formation;f. Entrepreneurial economy;g. Development of R&D.

Strategic objective 3Institutional development of the cross border business environmentSpecific objective 3.1Setting up of structures supporting the in-stitutional development of the business en-

vironment in the cross-border areaMeasures1. Strengthening of business structures

by making them more inclusive, more entrepreneurial, with the objective of becoming more representative and more effective through:

a. Lowering the fragmentation of the business sector (especially in Ro-mania) through the setting up of a County Coalition for the Business Sector;

b. Training for the staff of the busi-ness associations (chambers of commerce, business associations, business clubs);

c. Strengthening the communication of Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry of Bihor County through:

i. A more active public presence through exposition of studies, reports, point of view to sustain the interests of the business sector with regard the policy decision-makers;

ii. Development of an event or-ganizing structure with target group the businesses from the two cross-border counties;

iii. Lobby and advocacy services to support the regional businesses (identification and promotion of local and national legislative priorities).

Strategic objective 4Contribution to the good governance/improvement of public policies in the cross-border areaSpecific objective 4.1Permanent system for monitoring of prior-ities and risks and for fast response. Setting up a permanent communication interface with the representations of the business environmentMeasures1. Strengthening the cooperation of busi-

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ness structures with the local author-ities;

2. Participation in the evaluation of the public services. Involvement in public consultations, forwarding of feed back to authorities regarding the quality or the need for local public services, especially those relevant for the busi-ness environment;

3. Evaluation and communication of the infrastructure needs of businesses;

4. Identification of public services re-quired to take advantage of the advan-tages of placement. Communicating the results to public authorities;

5. Identification of public services re-quired to take advantage of environ-ment resources. Communicating the results to public authorities;

6. Elaboration and publication of an-alyzes regarding the evolutions of

workforce needs (size of demand, size of supply, regional distribution, com-petencies etc.).

Specific objective 4.2.Support for local social dialogue (business owners, trade unions, local authorities)Measures1. Support for cross-border education-

al partnerships (Erasmus, Grundtvig, Leonardo da Vinci etc.);

2. Promotion of social and environmen-tal responsibility through cooperation with local authorities and civil society;

3. Participation in fighting the dishon-est economic practices in cooperation with the local authorities and other ac-tors (NGOs, press etc.) including con-sumer campaigns;

4. Common activities with the political parties in order to make heard the pri-orities of the business sector.