International media cover Moscow's Cluster Summit
Taking a cue from international trends, the government is looking to boost growth and diversification through fostering economic clusters. International media “The Moscow News” and “Voice of Russia” discuss the topic basing on the results of the recent Cluster Summit in Moscow and presents HSE First Vice Rector, ISSEK Director Dr. Leonid Gokhberg’s comments.
Voice of Russia: Russian government embraces cluster strategy
Fifty percent of the world's economies are now using 'cluster strategy' to achieve growth, and as Russia attempts to wean itself off its dependence on natural resources, it's embracing the same this line of economic development, setting up various clusters across its vast territory. VoR’s Dasha Chernyshova reports from the 2013 Cluster Summit in Russia.
A cluster, or a group of related firms and economic institutions specializing in the same industry and located near one another, is believed to bring about synergies for small and mid-size businesses.
And though the strategy has been taken up only recently, there are success stories in the oil-rich country.
Some regions specialise in car manufacturing, some in pharmaceuticals, others in IT or aeronautics — many industries that are part of global trends are being developed in regional clusters across Russia.
Ben Aris, Editor in Chief of Business New Europe thinks clusters have already proved successful in Russia: "And they already are. For example, there is a huge cluster in St Petersburg for light manufacturing, alcohol, and car manufacturing which is already proving very successful. They are pulling in more and more investment, because the infrastructure is there, the work force is there and everything is in place. Kaluga, a region not particularly rich in minerals in oil, or anything, has been very successful in creating business environment."
Kaluga — 200 kilometers off Moscow — has been one of the pioneers, attracting car manufacturers to the region, inviting investment and providing ample opportunities — human resources and consumer market.
Mordovia has become a centre of Russia’s lighting industry, with plants manufacturing lighting equipment working for the benefit of the entire country, along with lighting design companies and distributors.
In 2012 Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development approved 25 innovative territorial clusters in Russia and 14 receive state subsidies.
Artyom Shadrin, Head of Innovation Development Department at Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said: “We had a competition and could choose not only from the regions with significant science and technical potential, but most importantly the regions ready for clusters and efficient work. So, it was not a mere analytic selection, and we didn’t pump them with money. We had 94 applications, and we selected 14 in the first wave, and 25 in the second. So, we expect these clusters to yield results.”
According to Artyom Shadrin, the volume of subsidies is more or less equal and amounts to two million pounds per cluster.
All of them have different models of territorial organisation, as well as various ration of science-technological activity and manufacturing capabilities.
Yet, all feature high growth of production volumes, R&D potential and educational facilities based within every cluster.
Another appealing initiative in Russia is special economic zones that provide tax breaks.
Leonid Gokhberg, First Vice-Rector at Higher School of Economics, said: “In my view there are definite advantages when we talk about special economic zones. Since they have been long established and have clear advantages in attracting investors. On the other hand, clusters can be more transparent — where you can identify immediate contacts for setting deals and immediate investment.”
Clusters are a relatively young initiative but there is hope they will bring about growth of Russia’s economy in long-term.
Some of the clusters across Russia have gone beyond national boundaries and can boast international cooperation — with France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands — to name a few.
So clusters help not only to attract foreign investors but also Russian companies to go abroad, as it is easier for a business to find overseas partners if it is part of a larger entity such as a cluster.
Author: Dasha Chernyshova
Source: Voice of Russia
15.11.2013
The Moscow News: Russian clusters needing coherent policy
Taking a cue from international trends, the government is looking to boost growth and diversification through fostering economic clusters.
In contrast to a traditional economic structure, focusing on competition within industries, clusters seek growth through collaboration between companies, institutions and organizations in defined territories. Current examples, found eligible for subsidies by the Economic Development Ministry, are an aerospace cluster in the Samara region or the PhysTech XXI cluster in Dolgoprudny and Khimki, in the Moscow region.
In Russia, the emphasis on clusters as a means to diversify and develop the economy has paralleled an emphasis on innovation, but investment in innovation has been slow, said Leonid Gokhberg, first pro-rector at the Higher School of Economics.
"For about a decade, after the default at the end of the 1990s, we note a plateau that has emerged in innovative activity in Russian industry," Gokhberg told the 2013 Cluster Summit at RIA Novosti last week. "The share of innovative enterprises has not exceeded 10 percent, much lower than in different countries."
Putting the brakes on clusters
The slow rate of innovation investment has led to a hesitance to engage in activities that make for successful clusters, such as technology sharing. Companies are slow to invest, and innovative firms are slow to connect with companies that all too often are content in a dominant position in a given region.
"Companies are localizing their activities on local markets, where no serious competitive pressure is being fostered [and] where they often occupy a monopoly position," Gokhberg said. "A market stimulus for innovations, as a result, does not arise."
Absence of innovation reinforces development gaps between regions, but a solution is targeted development - capitalizing on a region's particular advantages - rather than a broad approach.
"Modern approaches to a regional innovation policy... are based on so-called principles of smart specialization," he said. "This is not [on] economic activity in general, but on development and strengthening competitive advantages of the relevant regions."
This specialized development would allow for more sustainable growth and modernization of the top-down, centrally planned Soviet economy, whose repercussions still resonate throughout the country.
Role of the regions
Helping a region-based approach is the participation of local governments, companies and business groups, and universities in determining the industries and direction of local clusters.
"A defined policy of a selection of measures is developed and stimulated at the level of the federal ministries and the federal government," Alexander Vvedensky, director of infrastructure and regional development at state development fund RVK, told The Moscow News on the sidelines of the summit. "Specific implementation and localization are, of course, for the regional authorities, or representatives of regional authorities and business, who are interested in the realization of this federal policy."
Still, policy at the federal level needs to incorporate a "balanced toolkit" of measures that take regional strengths into consideration, Gokhberg said.
Author: Nathan Gray
Source: The Moscow News
21.11.2013