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The role of government programs and measures to stimulate exports is becoming increasingly important in the development strategies of countries, especially developing countries, which seek to make exports the engine of economic growth. At the same time, coordinated institutional work to stimulate exports is considered to be the most important factor to ensure comprehensive diversification of foreign trade activities. For the agricultural sector of Ukraine, the matter of systematic work to support and promote exports is currently extremely relevant. The main research methods within the study are surveys, SWOT-analysis, GAP-analysis, consolidation of information, comparison of export support activities in Ukraine and the EU. The results of the study demonstrate Institutions and Tools of State Export Support in Ukraine and the EU, export-oriented services by of support institutions, export support activities carried out by various institutions, practices on national export promotion activities – comparison of Ukraine with the countries of the European Union (Republic of Ireland, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Federal Republic of Germany). The main conclusions of the study are formed by areas – on the one hand Public Authorities, and on the other for Business Support Institutions, Unions and Associations. The recommendations cover areas such as the general coordination of export promotion programs, building a global network of local offices, access to finance, online services and informational Internet portals, presenting the organization on the Internet, marketing and communication strategies, improving the quality of export support services, providing financial support to enterprises entering new markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of contemporary territorial development challenges – such as uneven growth trajectories triggered by monocentric development, social and economic inequalities, depopulation of rural and remote territories, environmental degradation – calls for addressing them in a systemic, multi-level and cross-sectoral manner. Collaborative and participatory approaches are increasingly recognised as a precondition for smart and sustainable territorial development where local resources and digital technologies are employed in ways that stimulate economic growth, increase social integration and wellbeing, and improve environmental conditions. We apply the framework of quadruple helix to explore the role of knowledge and innovation partnerships (KIPs) in three key areas of contemporary territorial development in Latvia, i.e., regional food systems, rural-urban interfaces, and rural digitalisation. The study is based on a review and synthesis of theme-specific results from across 11 national and European projects carried out by the Baltic Studies Centre since 2007, and national expert interviews. The results suggest that KIPs in rural and territorial development contexts have specific constellations and activities both within and across the three areas. It can be more challenging to establish KIPs there than in urban surroundings because of scarcer resources. When established, KIPs allow for pooling resources of different stakeholders for joint practical problem solving. Improved understanding and knowledge of local resources and systems within which those resources circulate, and targeted support for multi-actor knowledge and innovation collaboration within and across territories, including rural-urban ones, are needed to enable KIPs for sustainable territorial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the article is to present the level of education in some selected countries, and to explain how education determines a sustainable growth. Education is the main factor to achieve both economic and employment growth. At the same time, education plays an important role for a sustainable improvement of the standard of living in the world. Supporting education is also one of the aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Goal 4), but education appears in a number of other SDG targets too. The countries that allocate the most capital for education are Norway, Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland (over 6.7% of GDP). The share of GDP allocated for education in Romania is only 2.7. This directly affects both the physical conditions for carrying out educational and research activities in school units and the qualitative level of the educational act. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the real GDP/capita (VAR01) and share of GDP for education (VAR02) for our study is 0.694, which again underlines the close correlation between the allocation of funds for education and research and the level of development from a country. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between supporting education from GDP and top 100 universities is relatively low (r = 0.287), reflecting an insufficient correlation between the two variables. As a result, the education system in a country must be adjusted and supported both financially and through the adoption of viable policy decisions that will ensure increased performance in the educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research hypothesis is that there is a synergy between the average amount of old-age pensions and the economic development of a territory in Latvia. The research aim is to identify a correlation between the average amount of old-age pensions and economic development in Latvia. In the research period 2004-2010, there was a positive trend regarding the average amount of old-age pensions in the entire Latvia and its regions - the average amount of old-age pensions increased, yet the amount of pensions is too small to provide effective government support to pensioners. According to the results of cluster analysis and ranking, a monocentric economic development trend is specific to Latvia, as a result of which there are significant differences between Latvia's capital city of Riga and the other municipalities and cities of Latvia. A high level of economic development, except the country's capital city, is also observed in three cities - Ventspils (Cluster 2), Valmiera ( Cluster 3), Liepaja (Cluster 4) as well as the municipalities closely located to the country's capital city (Carnikava, Ikskile, Stopini, Cesis, etc.). A lower level of economic development is observed in municipalities in Latgale and Zemgale regions and in small, in terms of territory, municipalities in Kurzeme and Vidzeme regions. The average amount of old-age pensions in the clusters of higher level of economic development and in the municipalities located next to the capital city is greater than in the clusters of lower level of economic development; therefore, a synergy exists between a territory's economic development and the average amount of old-age pensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]