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Local Economic Development Agencies for governance and internationalization of local economies
International interest

All LEDAs in the ILS LEDA network attracted the attention of international operators working in the country. Numerous donors have given support the activities of LEDAs in different countries, enabling them to carry out their own international cooperation initiatives.



A LEDA, in fact, represents:

• a unique structure involving the most important public and private actors engaged in economic development;

• a structure with technical capacity to provide integrated services for economic development;

• a structure capable of activating important resources (banks, entrepreneurs, universities) for carrying out projects and integrated interventions.

In countries where LEDAs are recognized as instruments of national economic policy, and are well linked to the local institutional framework, their capacity for attracting the attention of international cooperation is stronger. The same national and local administrations, in fact, invite international partners to use the LEDA to implement projects.



The international organizations that helped structurally the creation and functioning of the LEDAs and their international links are ILO, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNOPS and the European Union. UNDP, ILO and UNOPS have provided support to LEDAs in several countries since 1995, through various international cooperation programs.



The ILO-IFP/Crisis programme identifies the LEDAs as instruments for combining emergency intervention in crisis situations with the building of conditions for sustainable development, and improved utilisation of often considerable emergency response resources. An ILO study, realized in collaboration with the universities of Madrid, Grenoble, Insubria, the London School of Economics, the High Institute for Scientific Investigation of Madrid, Eurada (Brussels), the Agencies of Shannon (Ireland) and Soprip (Parma), the Sebrae (Brasil), identifies LEDAs as an important instrument for implementing policies for human development, decent work, and the fight against poverty. (Local Economic Development, Human Development and Decent Work: Overview and Learned Lessons” www.ilo.org/universitas).









The World Bank, in its web page, identifies LEDAs as best practice for local economic development (http://www.worldbank.org/urban/led).

It considers LEDA to be structures than can promote and support endogenous networks, catalyse development and build a favourable environment for creating jobs, promoting small enterprises, improving the economic situation.



The IADB (Inter-American Development Bank) supported several LEDAs in Central America (www.iadb.org). OECD recommends Local Economic Development Agencies as the leading territorial structure (OECD-LEED, “Best practices in local economic development”, 2000). The network that includes more than 300 LEDAs in Europe, has provided support to the ILS LEDA nertwork since 1999



The LEDA experience is part of the university curriculum in various academies, through masters or specialised courses.