The report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui. It was produced as part of the Programme of Work of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The report was prepared in the framework of a project on ‘Helping regions adapt to demographic change’ and implemented in the context of the OECD’s programme on Preparing Regions for Demographic Change and the European Commission’s Talent Booster Mechanism. It was made possible thanks to the financial contributions of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO).
The project was co-coordinated by Courtenay Wheeler and Jaebeum Cho, under the supervision of Dorothée Allain-Dupré, Head of the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division (RDG) and Rüdiger Ahrend, Head of Economic Analysis, Data and Statistics Division (EDS), all in CFE. The report on Nord‑Vest, Romania was co-ordinated by Courtenay Wheeler, under the supervision of Isabelle Chatry, Head of the Decentralisation, Subnational Finance and Infrastructure Unit in RDG, CFE.
Chapter 2 was prepared by Courtenay Wheeler, Caroline Gentet-Raskopf and Monika Kollar, with contributions from Agustin Basauri and Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp in the Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division of CFE. It was reviewed by Isabelle Chatry and Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter. Chapter 3 was prepared by Caroline Gentet-Raskopf, with contributions from Petra Bayerova, and reviewed by Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter and Courtenay Wheeler. Chapter 4 was prepared by Monika Kollar, Justin Chen and Courtenay Wheeler, and reviewed by Isabelle Chatry. Chapter 5 was prepared by Justin Chen and reviewed by Enrique Garcilazo and Courtenay Wheeler. Brendan Irish provided contributions to Chapter 2 and Chapter 4.
The OECD would like to thank the Nord-Vest Regional Development Agency for their co-operation and support during the study process. Special thanks are given to the local team composed of Andreea Coptil, Catalin Hadadea, Mariia Chornobai, Marius Lazin and Paula Hulea, among others, who provided support for implementation of the study and helpful comments on the report. The OECD also thanks Gergana Miladinova, François Gallaga, Diletta Zonta, Andreea Maier, Haroun Khalid, Irina Sofleta, and Milena Novakova from DG REGIO for their support and input throughout the preparation of the report. Thanks are also extended to Liviu Bailesteanu, Radu Necsuliu, Georgiana Toth and Alina Huzui-Stoiculescu, from the Romanian Ministry for Development, Public Works and Administration for their input and comments. Finally, the OECD gives thanks to the many stakeholders met during the study for their warm welcome to the region and valuable contributions, including representatives from county and local governments, civil society organisations and universities. The draft also benefited from comments from Delegates of the RDPC.
Special thanks are given to Jack Waters (CFE) who provided guidance on preparing the publication, Georgia McKerracher (CFE/RDG) and Isabella Edgecombe (CFE) for help preparing the policy highlights, and Roxana Glavanov and Jiin Lee (CFE/RDG) for support with communications.