CLUSTER ASSOCIATIONS

UNIDO Cluster Development Programme views a cluster not merely as a concentration of small firms, but as an inter-dependent network among the local firms as well as between the firms and the other cluster actors like raw material suppliers, equipment suppliers, subcontractors, support institutions, customers and service providers. The Cluster Associations play an important role in bringing these cluster actors together and co-operating with one another.

THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING PART OF A NETWORK

 Firm Level

  • Helps overcome disadvantages of economies of scale and weak capital base.
  • Firms become more competitive by exploring the advantages of the flexible structure and faster decision-making process


 Cluster Level

  • Increased responsiveness to market challenges
  • Easy and faster diffusion of information
  • Speedy dissemination of best practices in terms of organizational capabilities, skills and technological innovation
  • Distribution of fixed costs of intervention among a large number of beneficiaries thereby increasing cost-effectiveness
  • A wider public appropriation of the benefits

 
 

List of Cluster Associations working with UNIDO