The regional socio-economic analysis set out in this chapter constitutes an important basis for the Operational Programme’s (OP) strategy. It includes a definition and outline of the Border Midland and Western (BMW) region, a review of recent economic performance and a review of selected regional needs. A review of the relevant measures under the inter-regional and regional programmes under the previous NDP/CSF 2000-2006 is also provided. Finally, a SWOT analysis of the region, a summary of the findings of the ex ante evaluation and a non-technical summary of the SEA process are provided. In addition, some key macro-economic indicators and priority-level context indicators have been selected for use as OP context indicators and these are set out in Annex 2.
