The restoration of the Strabane Canal, a cross-Border music festival and IT training in the US for young people are some of the activities included in a five-year plan. The plan was announced yesterday by the Strabane-Lifford Development Commission.
The commission was set up in 1993, and the new plan coincides with the next round of funding from the EU. It identifies seven themes which will be the focus of its activities up to 2006. These include tourism, waterways and arts and culture.
The chief executive of the commission, Mr Liam Milligan, said the themes fitted in with regional priorities identified by the EU and the Irish and British governments. He said the commission was concentrating on sectors such as tourism and information technology because they had been identified as growth areas.
A "sister-city relationship" has been established with Sioux Falls in South Dakota, which Mr Milligan said was known as a centre for commercial banking and call centres. About 20 young people from both sides of the Border will be going there for IT training.
Strabane has traditionally been the unemployment black spot of the North and, while unemployment has fallen over recent years, its jobless rate is still the highest in the six counties. Figures for March show 9.6 per cent of the workforce unemployed, compared to the average in the North of 5.1 per cent.
Mr Milligan said he believed the area was "turning the corner" and attributed this to a more integrated approach by different agencies. "There is now a significant degree of optimism and a feeling that things are beginning to happen," he said.
He hoped to see the benefits of the peace process, particularly in tourism.