Economic profile of the Region of Veneto specializations

Economic profile of the Region of Veneto: specializations and industrial districts Mr. Gian Angelo Bellati Director of Unioncamere Veneto Treviso, 5 th December 2008

Population: 4. 845. 832 GDP per-capita: € 29. 226 No. of enterprises per-capita: 1/10, 45 Source: Veneto 2008– Economic Report Veneto Region

Countries of destination of Foreign Direct Investments of Veneto companies 2003 -2007 Country 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Average 20032007 values (in thousands euro) 1 LUSSEMBURGO 619. 350 414. 949 510. 113 473. 471 521. 798 507. 936 2 OLANDA 41. 891 23. 392 118. 216 520. 839 380. 140 216. 896 3 REGNO UNITO 328. 544 94. 191 104. 637 127. 640 174. 043 165. 811 4 FRANCIA 40. 330 102. 468 51. 308 87. 009 87. 648 73. 753 5 AUSTRALIA 282. 808 5. 176 4. 448 1. 329 1. 145 58. 981 6 SVIZZERA 26. 647 29. 840 100. 246 57. 737 37. 144 50. 323 7 STATI UNITI 27. 860 27. 501 61. 642 73. 898 54. 165 49. 013 8 GERMANIA 19. 871 42. 419 100. 980 41. 220 39. 377 48. 773 9 ROMANIA 26. 229 24. 185 34. 169 39. 807 50. 400 34. 958 10 SPAGNA 74. 777 15. 457 24. 919 20. 942 19. 077 31. 034 TOTALE 1. 618. 449 957. 216 1. 333. 756 1. 691. 503 1. 712. 464 1. 462. 678 Source: elab. Unioncamere del Veneto on data of the Bank of Italy

• Luxembourg is the first country of destination of direct investments of Veneto companies (FDI). In 2007 they amounted to 521 million euro while the 5 year average is 507 million euro, conferming a costant trend in the medium term. • Second and third countries of destination of Veneto FDI are The Netherlands and the United Kingdom with 380 and 174 millions euro respectively. • Well below these levels are investments in France (87 million euro), Romania (50 million), Germany (39 million) and Switzerland (37 million).

Regulation of the Productive Clusters and local industrial policy To support the development of local productive system & sectors Objectives (art. 1) To promote a real integration among local enterprises To rule the criteria on the procedures application to identify the productive Clusters

A “Productive Cluster” is defined as: 1. an high concentration of SMEs, integrated in a relevant productive system 2. a set of institutional actors having competence in supporting local economy Definition (art. 2)

Legal framework Regional Law n. 8 changed the traditional top-down approach moving towards a bottom-up one

The view has changed… From CLUSTER as area of industry specialization to a SYSTEM of enterprises and local institutions to network and to develop a STRATEGY towards REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS

INNOVATIVE LEGISLATION CONTENT 1. Self-promotion of the clusters; 2. Common activities shared by enterprises belonging to a district; 3. No grants to single enterprise, grants to jointed projects; 4. New concept: the “metadistretto” (metacluster); 5. No territorial restrictions; 6. Enterprises appoint their own leader within the members of each cluster district;

1. Self Promotion of the cluster There is no selection choice of clusters on the basis of statistics and quality parameters. However, the system works on a self-organization pattern of those districts who wish to act as industrial policy-makers. The clusters generally gather up according to their own development project: the “Cluster Pact”. Through the Pact clusters can forward their formal request of admission and empowerment to the Regional Local Government.

2. Common activities shared by enterprises belonging to a district; 3. No grants to single enterprise, grants to jointed projects; The “Pact” must be drawn up according to: Cluster Development “Pact” (art. 5): criteria approved by the Regional Council, and has to be implemented within three years Minimum Criteria • involves a minimum number of 100 productive units; • employs at least 1000 workers; • is able to express potential innovative capacities

4. New concept: the “metadistretto” (metacluster) The “meta-cluster” is a productive cluster whose productive system is spread all over the regional territory, thus becoming relevant for the Region’s economy. Clusters are getting wider and thus more complex and strategic.

5. No territorial restrictions new definition of industrial cluster unbound to specific areas. However, each cluster is defined and outlined on the basis of its production range.

6. The “leadership” of the cluster Each cluster appoints a contact person. It is the first contact point for the government and the foreign investors. The leader knows the sector and all the companies participating to the cluster activities.

Veneto Region Clusters: 1 st reason for success The Veneto Region recognizes 34 clusters and 10 meta-clusters involving more than 9. 246 companies and 292. 790 individuals in Veneto.

Veneto Region Clusters: 2 nd reason for success About 85 million Euro have been granted stimulating investments for about 280 million Euro (more than 3 times).

Veneto Region Clusters: 3 rd reason for success A steady dialogue between government, chamber of commerce and private enterprises. It gives to the companies the correct influence on the legislative and planning activities.

Veneto Region Clusters: 4 th reason for success The self-promotion of cluster and the periodical supervision activity to the 3 -year project enhances only real and flourishing clusters.

Veneto Region Clusters: 5 th reason for success One-stop shop foreign partners: the leader of the cluster is the natural contact point for investors and partners. The knowledge of all companies belonging to the cluster is a “facilitator” of partnership and cooperation.

Maps / Distribution of the Clusters in the 7 provinces of the Region Veneto

Province of Belluno § Renewable Energy Cluster (2005) § Dolomiti Bellunesi Tourism (2005) § Eye-wear (2006) (the year is given with reference to the cluster establishment and formal admission)

Province of Padova § Farming machines & heavy industry (2005) § Biomedicine (2005) § Spa & Wellness (2006) § Refrigeration & Air Conditioning (2006) § Animal husbandry & Livestock meta-cluster (2007) § Lighting Systems (2008)

Province of Rovigo § Fishing Industry (2006) § Fairground Equipment (2006)

Province of Treviso § Sportsystem (2006) § Wood furniture meta-cluster (2006) § Hotel Equipment (2006) § Prosecco Conegliano & Valdobbiadene (2006) § Biobuilding meta-cluster (2006) § Bike cluster (2005) § Fashion (2007) § IT Technology meta-cluster (2007) § Dairy Industry (2007) § Rubber and plastic materials (2007)

Province of Venice § Murano Art Glass (2006) § Ship building (2006) § Footwear (2006) § Aerospace and Astrophysics (2008) § Environment for a sustainable development meta-cluster (2008) § Cultural Heritage meta-cluster (2008)

Province of Vicenza § Cimbra Mountain Tourist (2005) § Ceramics & Terracotta (2006) § Art Furnishing (2006) § North East Packaging (2006) § Goldsmith & Silver (2006) § Tanning (2007) § Mechatronics & Mechanical innovative technology meta-cluster (2007)

Province of Verona § Graphic & Printing (2006) § Logistic meta-cluster (2006) § Textile, Clothing industry & Fashion (2006) § Marble and Stone (2006) § Veronese Footwear (2006) § Thermo Mechanics (2006) § Classic Furnishing (2006) § Wine (2007) § Informatics & Technology (2007) § Food meta-cluster (2007)

LESSONS LEARNED BY OUR EXPERIENCE a) The efficiency of Institutional cooperation with organisations in the Balkans on SMEs and Clusters development varies very much from Country to Country and in particular it depends on the level of decentralization of decision making power and policy; b) Selectivity in the collaboration and development of systemic action is recommended as it is supportive to trans-regional intercompany collaboration among SMEs and Clusters; c) The Chambers of Commerce’s role is a leading factor in order to concrete economic collaboration, especially where long term actions are put in place together with reliable counterparts. In Countries where Chambers have not a strong role, the institutional alternative can be found in Regional Development Agencies or SMEs Development Agencies.

LESSONS LEARNED BY OUR EXPERIENCE d) EU funding is in most of the cases necessary to complement selffunded activities; e) VII Framework Programme for Research is a valid instrument to promote joint innovation projects with concrete application to industry and related clusters; f) All inter-institutional cross border cooperation activities need to be fed with concrete activities in support of SMEs such as business matching and brokerage events; g) Assistance requested from Veneto SMEs with regard to the Balkan countries is gradually shifting from the provision of general information and first assistance to specific support on sectorial issues as well as partners finding support.

Unioncamere Veneto committed to Cluster promotion What is our role?

Unioncamere Veneto plays an important role at various levels: Internal affairs § Mainly focused on promotion and spreading of information (i. e. publication of DVDs on Venetian Clusters) External affairs § Launching events, trade & business missions abroad in cooperation with the Department for Veneto District Development of the Veneto Region Local Government: Tunisia, China, Brazil, Cyprus, Russia, United States, Canada, Serbia. § Participation in European Projects on clusters targeted activities. Activities implemented on the basis of art. 14 - Regional Law on Districts

a) Promotion of “systemic actions” • reinforcing the day to day cooperation with the Chambers of Commerce (Koper, Rijeka, Split, Plovdiv, Belgrade, Leskovac, Bucharest) and Regional Development Agencies (Pula and Dubrovnik) or by setting up independent antennas such as in Zrenjanin, also placing a detached person into these organizations where possible; • promoting direct relationships among institutions to foster B 2 B activities and co-operation among companies;

b) Specific support activities These are activities well defined in their nature and aim, developed by Unioncamere with counterparts in the Balkans and beyond. Some examples: a) Cooperation in the health care sector with Serbia, together with the promotion of joint renewable energy projects, under the Veneto. Serbia bilateral cooperation agreement; b) Support to the participation of Veneto’s companies into Structural Funds tenders in Romania; c) Organization of “clusters missions” (wood, furniture, nanotech, biotech, mechatronics, and other) in non EU countries with particular regard to Russian Federation, India, USA, Canada and South America;

Further information is available at: www. distrettidelveneto. it www. eurosportelloveneto. it Please, contact us: ricercainnovazione@regione. veneto. it europa@eurosportelloveneto. it

Thank you! Veneto, your Partner for jointed Development Starting from SMEs