Cooperation Arrangement on Clusters signed in Washington D.C.
Clusters are being recognised on both sides of the Atlantic as boosters of the economy and a Cooperation Arrangement on Clusters, the first of its kind, was signed on 22 April in Washington D.C.
The agreement was signed between the U.S. Department of Commerce, represented by Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews, and the European Commissions Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs by Director-General Daniel Calleja, represented in the US by Joanna Drake, Director responsible for Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
The signature of the Cooperation Arrangement took place in parallel to the 6th US-EU SME Workshop in the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) and the Bilateral Meeting with the US Department of Commerce in Washington D.C. on 21-22 April 2015.
The objective of this agreement is to facilitate transatlantic linkages between EU and US clusters, and help SMEs find strategic partners. Possible next steps include:
- Identifying thematic areas of mutual interest
- Linking-up and exchanging information between the European Cluster Collaboration Platform and the U.S. Cluster Map and Registry websites
- Facilitating partnering between cluster organisations and clusters firms through cluster match-making events
