European connection could boost Glasgow-Edinburgh link

LAURA Gordon, chief executive of the Glasgow-Edinburgh Collaboration Initiative, is to host a two-day event in Brussels tomorrow aimed at raising the profile of the ground-breaking Scottish economic development partnership.

Organised in partnership with Scotland Europa, the economic and political contact point in Brussels, the "Collaborate to Compete" event will feature presentations from other European collaborating cities, including Copenhagen-Malmo, known as Oresund, and the four Dutch cities (The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Utrecht) known as Deltametropolis. Also attending will be the enterprise minister, Jim Mather, and Ian Merchant chief executive of Scottish & Southern Energy.

Gordon, left, said: "We think it's important to raise the profile of Glasgow-Edinburgh as high-performing European cities which, through working together, can become more competitive and successful. Examining other city collaborations, and learning from successful ones such as Oresund and Deltametropolis, will enable us to extrapolate the successes applicable at home.

"This will reap benefits for short, medium, and long-term planning for the Glasgow Edinburgh collaboration."

Gordon said that the city collaboration project seeks to maximise Glasgow and Edinburgh's combined assets to "create the best prospects for attracting and retaining investment and people", and she cited remarks on Friday by the Scottish Secretary, Des Browne, who said at a conference in Glasgow that collaboration between the two cities was "not an option but an economic imperative".