Europe must increase investment into research and development (R&D) as well as facilitate creativity if it wants to remain competitive in the global world, EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Slovenian Development Minister Ziga Turk agreed in Kranjska gora on Thursday.
The pair was addressing the participants of a conference on the impact of national reforms on the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy with Potocnik saying that the EU had no other chance but to advance united in the direction of a more creative and productive society.
The essence of the Lisbon Strategy lies in retaining the quality of our lives and remaining competitive at the same time, Potocnik said at the close of the first day of the two-day conference, organised by the Institute for Macroeconomic Analyses and Development (IMAD), a government think-tank.
According to Potocnik, Europe is investing much less into R&D than the US or Japan while trends in some countries are quite frightening. Unless Europe does not start upping its investment China will catch up in two years, the commissioner warned.
Turk meanwhile said that the society today was buying things it did not need and exchanging items that still work, so the key question for the manufacturers was how to create a desire for the purchase.
The minister believes that a society of plenty is ready to pay more for things which are not only useful but also carry a value added, linked to the emotions of individuals.
"Development was based on people who were able to come out with improved products and the future belongs to creators," Turk said and added that the era of concepts was approaching which will bring creativity to the forefront of productivity.
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