S&T Country Report - Albania - WBC-INCO Net

2.2 Key Innovation Infrastructures
The following section gives an overview on the main existing innovation
infrastructures in the Former Republic of Macedonia (clusters, technology and
innovation centres, technological and science parks, Business-start-up centres/
Technology Incubators and some further related organizations).
A) Clusters
Clusters are inter-related firms and other institutions that drive the competitiveness of
a given industry. Clusters consist of private enterprises of various sizes, including
producers, suppliers and buyers, plus representatives of labour, government,
professional associations and academic, research or training institutes.
In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia clusters are supported by a number
of donor initiatives. Additionally, there is a donor financed programme to facilitate
technology transfer. The National Council for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness,
established with the help of USAID, has functioned over the last three years as a
focus for these activities. Financial and organisational support is donor based; at the
end of the period of donor funding, merging of activities with the recently established
SME national consultative arrangements is planned (OECD and EC 2007).
It is essential for the linkages between FDI and local businesses to be strengthened,
thus reaping spill-over effects such as transfers of technology and know-how, and
contributing to the development of SMEs and their competitiveness. Through the
SME Programme (2007- 2010), the Government of the FYR of Macedonia intends to
continue to develop SME linkages and cluster development programmes. The
following clusters already exist: lamb and cheese, tourism, information technology,
wine, apparel and wood industry. Further clusters are planned: fruit and vegetable
processing, automotive industry and construction. If there is an interest for new
business activities from companies, new clusters will be established. A USAIDfunded
project will support the development of the clusters and networks. These
clusters will be connected at the regional and local levels (Ministry of Economy
2007).
As mentioned previously, the major actor in clusters’ establishment in the FYR of
Macedonia is the USAID with the ‘Macedonia’s Competitiveness Activity’ (MCA).
Their project helped in the development of five clusters – in tourism, textile,
information technologies, wine, lamb and cheese.
The mission of USAID ‘Macedonia’s Competitiveness Activity’ (MCA) is to build the
prosperity of the average citizen of FYR of Macedonia by helping local enterprises
generate the vision and initiatives that will result in their increased competitiveness in
domestic, regional and international markets. USAID MCA works with Macedonian
enterprises of all sizes, helping them to develop and market complex products and
services to command higher prices from demanding customers around the world.
page 13/MKD