Local economic development

Local Economic Development (LED) is an approach to development, particularly in the Third World that, as its name implies, places importance on activities in and by cities, districts and regions.

The approach

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), national and local governments, as well as enterprises and other organisations have to rethink development strategies to cope with ongoing events such as Globalization. In contrast to traditional development policies, Local Economic Development strategies promote local dialogue and enable people to be more proactive; help to make local institutions better contribute to development; make economic activity dependent on the comparative advantages of a specific territory, generating development by firms more capable to withstand changes in the global economic environment rather than top-down development imposed by national planners. Economic development activities in developing countries tend to be unidisciplinary, initiated and implemented by just one ministry or agency. An advantage of LED approaches is that they facilitate a multidisciplinary approach. South Africa has been particularly active in promoting the concept.