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Successful Clusters

Clustering is an important tool in economic development and is strongly supported by Trade New Zealand. For some regions, such as Wellington, it is the cornerstone of their economic strategy. Clusters are not an instant solution, but they do bring measurable results. Similar businesses meet, network and cooperate, often leading to successes far greater than any of them could achieve alone.

The Pay-offs

• Businesses can gain critical mass in key areas, enabling them to achieve successes that would not be possible working in isolation
  
  
• By working together companies can open markets, and reduce costs
  
  
• Specialisation among local firms is increased
  
  
• Productivity and competitiveness are improved through competition and, at the same time, cooperation
  
  
• Small firms work together, and with larger firms, using their larger networks
  
  
• Clusters build regional growth, and provide a forum for dialogue between key regional stakeholders
  
  
• Effective public- private partnerships can be formed
  
  
• The issues raised are of real interest to business participants
  
  
• Clusters provide an efficient partnership mechanism for support agencies such as Industry New Zealand, TradeNZ, MFAT, Technology NZ, CRI's and tertiary institutions to link with SMEs and other businesses
  
  
• Clustering creates an environment for identifying and attracting specialised Foreign Direct Investment, filling capability gaps and deepening the existing cluster. Newcomers attracted are likely to attract further specialised investments

New Zealand Clusters

• Christchurch electronics? home base for half of New Zealand's electronic engineers
  
  
• Hawke's Bay and Martinborough?two leading wine tourism clusters
  
  
• Auckland, the City of Sails: home to the America's Cup, and a leading marine centre
  
  
• Ashburton: the centre for half of New Zealand's arable activity
  
  
• Hamilton: home to Mystery Creek and New Zealand's agri-tech industry
  
  
• Wellington: where the seismic engineers are together shaking the world.

Overseas Clusters

• Silicon Valley, a region similar in size to greater Wellington, just south of San Francisco, has become home to over 7,000 high tech companies
  
  
• Biella, Italy (population 48,000) is the world's leading luxury textile centre. Half of all the firms in this city, which is not much larger than Ashburton, work in activities that relate to wool processing
  
  
• Castel Goffredo, Italy (population 7,000), a community not much larger than Wainuiomata, is home to 200 hosiery related firms, who together produce over half of Europe's socks
  
  
• Dalton, Georgia, USA (population 25,000), similar in size to Whakatane, is home for 174 carpet mills, accounting for 85% of US carpet output, and almost half of the world's carpet output
  
  
• Wichita, Kansas (population 300,000) is the world's small aircraft manufacturing center, with half of the world's aircraft fleet taking off for the first time from this city the size of Christchurch

Want to start a Cluster?

Link to Trade NZ website or use their info? www.nzte.govt.nz