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Hidalgo is one of the smallest states in Mexico. It benefits from its close proximity to Mexico City and contains a number of economic and environmental assets in its territory. After a long period of economic stagnation, the state is now closing up the gap with national standards. Yet, productivity and income levels remain low with respect to national levels, and there exist high socio-economic disparities between the south of the state and the municipalities in the northern and mountainous area. This review looks at how the state of Hidalgo is seeking to boost its economy, particularly through a series of institutional reforms and policies to improve the business environment. It highlights opportunities to accelerate the economic convergence and transit towards high-value added economic sectors. The review also identifies a number of recommendations to promote inclusive growth and reduce its north-south divide and offers suggestions to address governance challenges in the territory.

This report focuses on how to better engage employers to increase participation in apprenticeship and other work-based skills development opportunities, which support local economic development objectives. The report begins with the description of relevant economic and labor market condition in Australia and across states and territories.A key part of this project is the implementation of an employer-based survey in Australia, which gathers information from employers about their skills needs and barriers to apprenticeship participation. The project also takes a case study approach to understand various implementation strengths and weaknesses in Australia. The aim is to understand the interaction between national, state and local programmes and policies while offering practical advice to improve coordination and the participation of employers based on international best practices. For each case study area, interviews were undertaken with local stakeholders in the fields of vocational training, employment, and economic development in order to collect evidence around local actions being taken to boost participation in apprenticeship and other work-based training programmes.

Large and persistent inequalities in regional economic performance within countries exist throughout the OECD. The 2019 Regional Outlook discusses the underlying causes of economic disparities across regions and highlights the need for place-based policies to address them. The report makes the case that place-based policies are especially important in light of growing public discontent with the economic, social and political status quo in many regions. The geographical patterns of public discontent are closely related to the degree of regional inequalities and policies to address public discontent need to have a place-based dimension.Place-based policies will become even more important in the future due to several technological, demographic and environmental megatrends. This Regional Outlook emphasises that all regions will be affected by these megatrends, but their effects will vary from region to region, even within the same country. Appropriate policy responses need to take this diversity into account and should be tailored to the region-specific impacts of global megatrends. Insofar as possible, this Regional Outlook presents steps that policy makers can take today to make the next generation of regional policies fit for the future.

Thailand is a fast emerging country that aspires to become a high-income economy by 2037. Still, Thailand’s growth path has created large disparities that risk obstructing the next stage of development. This report lays out three transitions that Thailand needs to master to build capabilities and sustain faster but also more inclusive economic growth. First, the country should move from a growth path dominated by few and geographically concentrated sources of innovation to one that focuses on unlocking the full potential of all regions. Second, to support a new growth agenda, it should organise multi-level governance and the relationship between the many layers of government more effectively, particularly with regards to financial resources. Last but not least, Thailand should focus on water and environment, moving from a resource-intensive growth path with costly natural disasters to one characterised by sustainable development. In the case of water, this means moving from ad-hoc responses to effective management of water security.

Colombia, the fourth largest economy in Latin America, is back on track after decades of conflict. The country is looking to open up opportunities by addressing structural challenges, further benefiting from trade and investment, and increasing productivity. Colombia's march towards prosperity requires transforming the economy through a renewed policy approach that prioritises an expanded knowledge base, unlocks regional potential and fast tracks digital technologies. The success will depend on Colombia’s capacity to leverage its long-standing planning capacity and its ability to bring together all the relevant stakeholders.The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of Colombia provides a novel and timely assessment of the country's industrialisation strategies. It relies on international peer learning and domestic consensus building, and benefited from knowledge sharing through the OECD Initiative for Policy Dialogue on Global Value Chains, Production Transformation and Development.

The success of skills development activities through both on- and off-the job training often depends on the participation of employers. This OECD report on Northern Ireland, United Kingdom identifies a number of innovative programmes that aim to better engage employers in the design and delivery of training. It also looks at the role of local district councils in working closer with employers to better understand and address their skills challenges.A key part of the project was the implementation of a survey to gather information from Northern Irish employers about their skills needs and barriers to apprenticeship participation. The report offers a number of recommendations for improving business-education partnerships in emerging sectors of the Northern Ireland economy.

Following on from the 2012 Territorial Review of Småland Blekinge, this Monitoring Review assesses the main regional policy changes since 2012 and the extent to which the recommendations have been implemented. It gives full consideration to the changing context in the region, with improved economic performance, new administrative configurations and an influx of migrants spurring population growth.