THE South East is to be compared with the world's top knowledge-driven economies in a bid to boost productivity and job creation.

Concerned that the region is not performing as strongly as other areas with a similar profile, the South East England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA) has commissioned a major benchmarking project.

It will look at regional economies in the United States, Asia and Europe.

SEEDA says the South East will learn from best practice around the world.

The project follows publication of a report by Robert Huggins Associates Global Index of Regional Economies: Benchmarking south east England showed that it has much to learn from other successful regions in how to turn a knowledge base into productivity and wealth creation.

For example, the South East compares well on Research and Development investment but relatively poorly on Gross Domestic Product per head and labour productivity.

Kent-based SEEDA chairman Allan Willett said: "It is no good our comparing the South East with other UK or just European regions. Our real competitors are global and these are the regions against which we must benchmark.

"The South East is already a successful player on the world stage, but to retain and build on this position we must learn continuously from the best performing regions worldwide.

"This initiative will enable us to identify and exchange ideas and new concepts with the very best regions on how to drive forward our increasingly knowledge based economy."

The regions chosen for the Regional Comparison Benchmark Study are: Ontario (Canada), Denmark, Finland, Nordrhein Westfalen and Baden Wuerttemberg (Germany), Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan), West-Nederland (the Netherlands), Singapore, and, in the United States, New Jersey, Greater Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.