Nine Moldovan clusters bronze-labelled by EU

Chisinau, Oct 22 /MOLDPRES/- Nine clusters of the Republic of Moldova have been awarded ECEI Bronze Label "Striving for Cluster Excellence" by European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis. The awarding took place at the international conference Clusters Meet Regions, held this month for the first time in our country.

The bronze label facilitates access to opportunities for collaboration with clusters in the European Union, partnerships and development of joint projects. This will boost local economic development and fortify the resilience of communities by supporting local entrepreneurship, attracting investment and generating new jobs.

The nine clusters have a total of over 235 members and were created in 2022-2023 with the support of UNDP, the European Union and the Government of Switzerland.

"The Clusters Meet Regions conference in Chisinau, the first ever to be organized by the European Commission in a non-EU country, and the 9 bronze medals won by Moldovan clusters, are a recognition of a brilliant start. The hard climb to excellence lies ahead, which development partners should continue to support in order to reap the rewards of some of the best cluster support programs in the world that they are currently implementing", said Daniel Coșniță, President of CLUSTERO.

As of 2019, UNDP Moldova and its partners - the European Union, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom - supported the formation of 17 clusters. The efforts contribute to local economic development as well as to Moldova's integration into international business networks.

Areas supported by UNDP include: animal husbandry, horticulture, tourism and industry. In total, UNDP and its partners are investing 4.8 million US dollars in cluster development throughout the country (including the left bank of the Dniester).

A business cluster is a geographical concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are believed to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally.