The 2007 OECD Rural Conference took place in Cáceres, Spain on the 21-23 March, 2007. It constitutes the fifth of a series of conferences that started in Siena, Italy (2002), followed by Warrenton, Virginia, US (2004), Oaxaca, Mexico (2005) and Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (2006).  The event focused on: “Innovative Rural regions: the Role of Technology and Human Capital”.

The conference, co-organised by the Extremadura Regional Government and the OECD included the participation of over 350 policy officials and experts from 21 OECD countries as well as representatives from non-member countries.  Speakers included:

• H.R.H Felipe de Borbón y Grecia, Prince of Asturias;
• Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the OECD;
• Elena Mangana, Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
• Guido Tampieri, Italian Vice-Minister of Agriculture;
• Antonio Ruiz, Mexican Undersecretary for Rural Development;
• José Antonio García Cantera, CEO of the Spanish Bank of Credit, Banesto;
• Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, President of the Region of Extremadura.

The conference consisted of six plenary sessions.

• Innovative rural regions: an exception or a must?
• Development and attraction of human capital in rural areas
• Financing rural innovation
• Enhancing rural business competitiveness through technology: best practices
• Institutional and technological innovation: evidence from the public sector
• Innovative rural regions: lessons learned

Available now are the speakers' presentations and videos of the presentations.