Improvement of Activities of Strategizing of Social and Economic Development in a Region by Means of Strengthening the Interconnection between Forecasting and Strategic Planning

The importance of strategic management of the socio-economic development of regions in conditions of uncertainty is becoming increasingly important. The aim of this article is to identify the main problems in organizing activities of strategizing and forecasting of social and economic development of a region. The research conducted using the systemic mental and action approach showed that comprehensive strategic planning at the regional level is impossible without normative forecasting and environmental analysis, which state government bodies of the territorial entities of the Russian Federation do not pay sufficient attention to. Such stages of strategizing as forecasting and strategic planning play a major role in the process of strategizing. The article clarifies the concept of strategic management (strategizing) in relation to the socio-economic development of regions. It was found out that the shortcomings of the methodological tools and low level qualification of experts lead to a low quality of the developed forecast documents and management decisions. Suggestions have been deve­loped to support the forecasting of the socio-economic development of the region through the use of qualitative forecasting methods. The proposals include criteria for the selection of experts for the development of forecasts, as well as a conceptual distributed scheme for collecting expert opinions on the prospects for changing various aspects and directions of the socio-economic development of the region.