The Regional Development Agency Experiences of Turkey and Romania

Özet

Economic growth and development take priority in a country’s economic andsocial objectives. When examining historical periods, there are central points ineconomic and social activities for reasons such as geopolitical status and geographiccharacteristics. Regional imbalances are a significant socio-economic problem that isapparent in many countries. Development agencies implemented by many developed ordeveloping countries aim to eliminate regional imbalances. Turkey and Romania havedifferent regional development levels. However, both countries face the problem ofregional development differences. The EU Regional Policy, through the approach of aregional development agency, can help to close the gap between regions in bothcountries. The legislative framework of regional development was established byRegional Development Law No. 151 in 1998 after first carrying out an analysis of theregional disparities in Romania. RDAs entered the Turkish legal system with Law No.5449 concerning the establishment, coordination, and tasks of development agencies in2006. In this study, we explain both countries’ RDA experiences within the organizationalstructures and the development of agencies following a theoretical approach.