Abstract
Developments in technology, combined with free-market ideology, have given goods, services, and capital unprecedented mobility. Globalization has led to a new interplay between economic, state and civil society actors. Faced with these challenges, the following preconditions seem necessary: a readiness for dialogue between state and economic actors and an understanding for the economy’s needs inside the public administration. Public managers with cross-sectoral skills are needed as well as economic actors with an understanding for the «rules» of public administration.