West Pannon Regional Development Agency (WPRDA)
The West Pannon Regional Development Agency (WPRDA), headquarters based in Sopron, was founded in 1999 to act as the working body of the West Transdanubian Regional Development Council. With a staff of about 50 employees its mission is to implement the Regional Development Programme of Western Transdanubia. Rather than acting as a kind of “small local ministry”, the WPRDA aims to work as a network of offices located in several towns of the region, with highly trained colleagues. This open network structure and the principle of partnership enable them to count on the co-operation of a number of other institutions within the region: local and county governments, small region associations, decentralised state organs, economic development organisations, or university and research institutions. During the last years WPRDA has initiated clustering activities focussing on five branches: automobile, electronic, wood industry, fruit production and thermal tourism.