THE president of the regional government of Moravia-Silesia, in the Czech Republic, has met North-East Assembly chairman Bob Gibson to discuss links with the region.

Evzen Tosenovsky is spending five-days in the North-East to talk about the development of a strategic alliance between the two regions.

Key areas for possible future links between the North-East and Moravia-Silesia include universities, research and development, environmental protection and business.

Councillor Gibson said: "The Assembly, One NorthEast and Government Office for the North East have been working to develop strategic alliances with regions in Europe to enable different regions to share their experiences and benefit from examples of best practice.

"The president's visit is an opportunity to learn about each other's modes of governance, explore opportunities for co-operation and collaboration on future projects, and establish links in a wide range of sectors."

Moravia-Silesia is an industrial region that forms an urban corridor between forests and mountains on the borders of Poland and Slovakia. It has its own regional parliament, with responsibilities similar to those covered by the Government Office for the North East and the regional development agency One NorthEast.

During his visit, the president attended the Intertech conference in Durham, which brought together local companies that are working in science and technology with counterparts from countries across the globe.