Export Clusters

Industrial clusters, specially export-oriented clusters are rather new and emerging strategies for companies and countries to achieve export development throughout the world. According to Porter (1998) in his well known paper, clusters and the new economics of competition, “paradoxically, the enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things – knowledge, relationships, and motivation that distant rivals cannot match”. These clusters have been considered as competitive advantage of nations. The experience of several developed economies including United States (in, for instance, Silicon Valley, California; Research Triangle, North Carolina; etc.) and other regions of the world (e.g. Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia) has demonstrated that strong clusters ensure sustainable competitive advantage within a region. Examples for developing countries are clusters in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Chile, and Brazil to name a few. In this chapter, we will discuss different aspects of clusters and export oriented clusters, and attempt to highlight key issues in developing successful clusters.