Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

The catchwords to describe the phenomenon of firm agglomeration and its associated benefits, be it local productive systems, industrial districts, regional or enterprise clusters, have only recently entered policy dialogue in Central and Eastern European countries. However, clusters have caught the imagination of both policy makers and entrepreneurs alike as instruments to promote higher productivity and competitiveness, boost innovation, strengthen SMEs and favour a more equal regional economic development. Increasingly, clusters are used as components of policy focused on achieving many economic and social goals. Policy makers, economic development practitioners and entrepreneurs from Central and Eastern Europe are looking for ways to share their individual experiences with countries around the world and exchange views on similarities and differences with the aim of identifying good cluster policy practice.