During two days, the conference gathered more than a hundred experts in various sectors from twelve countries. The event was held on April 10th -11th, in organization of the Croatian Wood Cluster and was supported by numerous partners and co-organizers, such as Croatian competiveness clusters. Croatian Chamber of Economy, Agency for Investments and Competitiveness, Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina and House of Clusters were Conference partners. More than sixty international lecturers and panelists presented some relevant topics in a field of competitiveness and importance of networking. This event, organization, location and topics were highly graded by participants. Next cluster conference will take place in Brussels by the end of this year, with a partnership of the Croatian MEPs.    

Corporate networking has become priority economical area in all developed countries. Thus, Southeast European countries, following this example, started developing different ways of business associating, mostly through clusters. It is necessary to support those new forms of business associating on governmental level, because it can help in reaching better economical results, was agreed by the participants during this two days' event. Process of clustering is at the turning point in the region and it is necessary to implement current experiences in the Smart specialization program, stated vice-president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy for industry, IT, energy and environmental protection, Mr. Tomislav Radoš, at the conference opening. A similar opinion was shared by Danka Milojković, Ph.D., Director of the Cluster House from Niš, who pointed out that clusters overcame boundaries and made successful business networks at regional level, such as the Railway Cluster of the South Eastern Europe (RCSEE). More than 170 cluster organizations and 3.500 institutions operate in the Balkans and Black Sea area, concluded Milojković.

Clusters need to support greater implementation of innovations, as well as completely new education approach, since by 2030 world economy will have completely different contours, led by highly profiled experts with knowledge in robotics, green energy and sustainable development, said Mladen Perkov, from Cluster of Intelligent Energy. The envoy of the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Maro Kristić gave strong support to the topic of competitiveness, and pointed out the importance of business connecting, especially in tourism, which is very important for the future development of touristic regions. The Parliament shall, within its domain, create a framework to support existing clusters, that need to proactively suggest solutions and directions of clustering. It was highlighted that the sectors and companies connected into clusters accomplish more than one third of Croatian GDP.

Improving educational system, the application of innovation and internationalization of clusters, were pointed out as main developmental challenges, among other topics. President of the Croatian Competiveness Cluster for Electrical and Mechanical Machinery Industry and Technology, Mr. Vlado Orešković, stressed the role of cluster managers, that is often crucial for visibility and the achievement of positive results. 

Information on this important specialized conference, held in the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel, has been globally accessible through a number of cluster platforms. Participants from the neighboring countries and the EU have been very intensively announcing this event as platform for important debates on the future of clustering in the EU and the application of new cluster models that undoubtedly seek for greater globalization and specialization. At the same time, issues of sustainability and ecological and socio-economic aspects of business are increasingly taken into account, which include constantly changing European development guidelines.

One of the most notable lectures held Florence Castel from the French competitiveness clusters Advancity, which aims at the sustainable development of European cities, and at the same time implements a number of projects on other continents, including successful initiatives in Brazil, China, Canada, etc.

 The European Commission perceives clusters as an important tool for strengthening competitiveness, and in this regard the establishment of the European Cluster Observatory and the European Cluster Collaboration Platform was initiated. Mr. Jacques Viseur, representative of the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, in Dubrovnik highlighted features of European clusters that are based on new paradigms, the application of innovation and knowledge transfer, but also emphasized the need for constant adaptation, learning and encouraging the development of clusters at national level.

B2B meetings and successful matchmaking! The conference enabled intensive international networking, since most of the participants expressed interest in EU projects, joint application for tenders and the development of bilateral contacts. Italian cluster Marche Manufacturing is intensively searching for partners on the east coast of the Adriatic, especially in bio-based industries and their project proposals attracted great interest of participants. Representatives of the Greek Quality Foundation expressed their willingness to be included in existing projects, all aimed at transferring experience from other countries of South Eastern Europe. Competence centre Spin Valis, Wood Cluster Herzegovina and Montenegrin wood clusters from Žabljak, Rožaje and Berane, presented their activities and project capacities. All of them agreed that there is lack of networking opportunities, so they used Dubrovnik conference for intense meetings, exchange of information and knowledge.

Competent institutions in Croatia have so far encouraged business networking, and, in recent years, invested 3.7 million EUR in networking in 504 companies, which employ 25.000 workers, said Mrs. Tajana Kesić Šapić, director of industry and IT sector in the Croatian Chamber of Economy. As a result of the particular business connections in CCE, there is also project "Croatian bathroom", association of Croatian manufacturers of bathroom accessories, who will jointly work toward potential customers in the region and abroad. Serbian Green Building Cluster is also searching for partners. The construction sector is becoming more competitive, even though most of the major construction activities in Serbia are conducted by foreign companies, said Ivana Lukić. Impressive performances had Health Tourism Cluster from Croatia and Tourist Cluster Herzegovina, whose activities can mobilize the resources of many industry and service sectors. Notable initiatives for economy digitization were presented by representatives of ICT sector, Hrvoje Strepački from the company Ericsson Nikola Tesla, who spoke on the model of horizontal integration of the ICT industry and other sectors and Krešimir Budiša from the Adriatic ICT cluster.

Awards for the most successful clusters!

Conference participants, all respectively established experts from institutional, academic and business clusters, in Dubrovnik further enhanced their knowledge and received newest information on the level of clustering that are mutual result of supporting institutions, pro-active clusters and implemented projects in the SEE countries. Nominee cluster managers during the conference presented their initiatives, goals and activities, and participants evaluated the Vojvodina ICT Cluster, Croatian Agricultural Equipment Cluster, led by Mr. Željko Erkapić and the Construction Cluster of Slovenia as the most successful. We intensively work on educating our members, but also our customers, said Milan Šolaja from Vojvodina ICT cluster and added that so far they realized a number of EU projects worth over 15 million EUR. Significant experience in clustering can be seen in neighboring Slovenia, and one of the most successful, Construction Cluster of Slovenia, presented their results, especially in light of the construction sector recovering and implementation of EU politics and practices, such as sustainable construction and circular economy. Construction waste is now perceived as an important development resource and cluster helps companies to understand and apply that, said Vladimir Gumilar, cluster manager.

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