Asia - Pacific

Pune, the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra, India has received a formal government approval to set up an auto cluster, making it the first cluster of its kind in the country.

During a cluster road show led by the Office of the National Competitiveness Committee mid August , Thai north eastern province Nong Khai showed its readiness to encourage cluster development.

"Too Many with Too Little - The Challenges for India's Development Paradigm'' is the title of a publication by the the Regional UNIDO Director, George B. Assaf, in which he emphasizes the importance of cluster development for India.

'Clusters and corridors in Andhra Pradesh' and 'Creating entrepreneurs and forming networks in the weaver cluster of Pochampalli' are two articles by Sameer Sharma about the weaver cluster in the Indian state Andhra Pradesh.

During a meeting held Thursday June, South Korean Commerce Minister Lee Hee-beom announced that his government will invest an annual 100 billion won to develop six industrial next-generation clusters across the nation.

Michael Porter will attend a forum in China in June to share his visions with growing Chinese enterprises.

At a recent meeting with the Thai Competitiveness Committee, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed displeasure over the slow development of the industry cluster programme, which was initiated last year to build competitiveness of Thai products, a source from the Government House said.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Gandhinagar, the capital of the western Indian region of Gurajat, is initiating more cluster developments due to the impressive results from other such projects.

The Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) in Japan, under its current mandate to provide for the “expansion of trade relations and [to] promote economic cooperation with all developing countries and regions,” is currently embarking upon a major research project that could provide valuable insight into the true impact clusters have had on the Asian economy.

Early december the new export development plan was being presented before the Phillipine House of Representatives. Centerpiece of the strategy unfolded in the new plan is industry clustering.