PROMOTING REGIONAL BUSINESS CLUSTERS IN THE BALKANS

Regional business clusters (RBCs) in Western Balkans are scarce and institutional support for national clusters is very limited . Any existing clusters in the region are the outcome of external donors’ policies rather than genuine local initiatives; they have very limited government support although they are national in character and nature; awareness of clustering advantages is very low, even for their members. In other words, they are underdeveloped, while good practices are missing due to the fact that they are rather new initiatives without precedents.

Regional business clusters is a tool not yet fully applied in the Western Balkans; thus, it can be considered as an innovative mechanism to promote entrepreneurship, business cooperation and competitiveness in all neighbouring countries of the region.

Clusters require tight interaction among entrepreneurs and institutions and cooperation at both local and regional levels. Thus, clustering needs promotion by many in support, FDI promotion, education and training, infrastructure and logistics provision, research and development (R&D) and competition. Special measures are also needed to strengthen social capital . The potential of clusters to mobilize local economies should be viewed by Western Balkan policy makers as a tool to boost growth in this disadvantaged region. Cluster policies and initiatives have emerged in recent years in the CE countries, with positive results in Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. In all such cases, various policy tools and initiatives have been used to foster cluster development directly or indirectly.

 In Western Balkans, poor know-how and marketing inadequacies prevailing in the region’s national economies could be surpassed through cooperation of mutual benefits. Business cooperation should exceed market overlapping and boost intraregional trade, on the basis of product improved quality and international competitiveness .

A series of policy initiatives and measures should be implemented for the specific RBCs targeting:

• joint business projects, joint efforts for product development, shared supplies, production and marketing;
• joint action for an extrovert business orientation, e.g. international fairs and exhibitions for a common marketing and sales platform, e.g. promoting the comparative advantages of the cluster;
• know-how exchange and sharing of expertise and skills, e.g. language skills and competences, cultural acquaintance, human resources exchange, training courses, learning from good practices and diffusing innovation;
• building institutional and administrative capacity, sustaining entrepreneurship across the countries involved;
• developing infrastructure and technology projects, enhancing accessibility and mobility of production actors across the countries  involved.

 RBCs meaning the cultural particularities, the political interests and the economic objectives of private and public stakeholders in the countries involved, can counteract stagnation and form the leverage for local and regional development in the Western Balkans.