ESCP-4i First generation achievements
The first generation of 15 co-funded and 10 voluntary European Strategic Cluster Partnerships for Going International (ESCP-4i) involving about 150 cluster organisations across 23 European countries have developed and implemented joint strategies to support SME internationalisation towards third countries (2016-2017).
The overall achievements prove the success of these partnerships: over a 24 months period,
- 2000 European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been involved in activities targeting international third-markets generating 85 concrete business cooperation cases with international partners
- 370 Cluster-to-Cluster events and
- 3010 Business-to-Business events have been conducted,
- whilst 39 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and
- 45 collaboration projects implemented between EU clusters and international peer organisations
Each ESCP-4i developed a series of joint actions for their members (i.e. business missions, cooperation agreements, gateway services, export consortia, etc.) strengthening European SMEs access to specific third markets and putting in motion a long-term cooperation agenda with strategic partners in third countries.
Number of events and meetings attended and organised with support by this action:
Stakeholders involved in partnership activities - phase 1 and 2
| Country | EU clusters - phase 1 | EU clusters - phase 2 | EU SMEs - phase 1 | EU SMEs - phase 2 | TOTAL EU | 3rd country clusters - phase 1 | 3rd country clusters - phase 2 | 3rd country SMEs - phase 1 | 3rd country SMEs - phase 2 | TOTAL 3rd country | Total clusters | Total SMEs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australia |
17 |
17 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
||||||
|
Brazil |
10 |
10 |
19 |
24 |
63 |
14 |
18 |
7 |
28 |
67 |
52 |
78 |
|
Canada |
10 |
7 |
260 |
26 |
303 |
13 |
7 |
9 |
17 |
46 |
37 |
312 |
|
Chile |
33 |
33 |
11 |
20 |
31 |
44 |
20 |
|||||
|
China |
12 |
6 |
254 |
26 |
298 |
5 |
13 |
3 |
156 |
177 |
36 |
439 |
|
Colombia |
9 |
2 |
3 |
28 |
42 |
2 |
20 |
17 |
27 |
66 |
33 |
75 |
|
India |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
|
Indonesia |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|||||||
|
Iran |
2 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
|
|
Japan |
59 |
126 |
185 |
15 |
158 |
173 |
74 |
284 |
||||
|
Malaysia |
4 |
250 |
254 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
250 |
|||||
|
Mexico |
1 |
16 |
43 |
60 |
5 |
14 |
51 |
70 |
36 |
94 |
||
|
Morocco |
8 |
41 |
49 |
5 |
89 |
94 |
13 |
130 |
||||
|
North Africa |
1 |
23 |
24 |
5 |
45 |
50 |
6 |
68 |
||||
|
North America |
5 |
27 |
32 |
41 |
40 |
81 |
46 |
67 |
||||
|
Peru |
7 |
2 |
8 |
4 |
21 |
6 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
18 |
21 |
18 |
|
Philippines |
5 |
12 |
17 |
8 |
5 |
13 |
13 |
17 |
||||
|
Singapore |
6 |
253 |
259 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
256 |
||||
|
South Africa |
1 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
8 |
||||
|
South Korea |
2 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
11 |
2 |
|||
|
Taiwan |
36 |
106 |
142 |
17 |
303 |
320 |
53 |
409 |
||||
|
Thailand |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
||||||
|
Tunisia |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
6 |
||||
|
United Arab Emirates |
1 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
16 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
12 |
||
|
United States |
7 |
15 |
250 |
71 |
343 |
12 |
30 |
3 |
110 |
155 |
64 |
434 |
| TOTAL | 85 | 204 | 1350 | 544 | 2183 | 85 | 210 | 146 | 969 | 1410 | 584 | 3009 |
Cluster cooperation cases: phase 1 and phase 2
|
Country |
Collaboration project |
Formal agreements (e.g. MoUs) |
Representation office/ role appointed by the consortium |
Other |
Total per country |
|
Australia |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Brazil |
1 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
Canada |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
|
Chile |
1 |
2 |
3 |
||
|
China |
7 |
10 |
1 |
18 |
|
|
Colombia |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Japan |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
|
Mexico |
4 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
North Africa |
2 |
2 |
|||
|
Peru |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Philippines |
5 |
5 |
|||
|
South Korea |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Taiwan |
4 |
2 |
6 |
12 |
|
|
United Arab Emirates |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
United States |
9 |
5 |
2 |
16 |
Cooperation cases led by SMEs: phase 1 and phase 2
| Country | Business project | Innovation test | Visit | Total per country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australia |
1 |
1 |
||
|
Brazil |
7 |
2 |
9 |
|
|
Canada |
2 |
2 |
||
|
Chile |
5 |
5 |
||
|
China |
14 |
4 |
18 |
|
|
Colombia |
4 |
4 |
||
|
Japan |
8 |
8 |
||
|
Mexico |
8 |
8 |
||
|
Morocco |
2 |
2 |
||
|
Peru |
1 |
1 |
||
|
Philippines |
4 |
4 |
||
|
South Korea |
1 |
1 |
||
|
Taiwan |
4 |
4 |
8 |
|
|
United Arab Emirates |
3 |
3 |
||
|
United States |
10 |
1 |
11 |
|
|
TOTAL |
74 |
2 |
9 |
85 |
USA vs China - SME-led cooperation cases by objective (phase 2)
| Cooperation Objective / Country | R&D | Exports | Sales office | Joint Venture | Soft landing | Joint business events | Knowledge sharing | Other: promotion of tourism in EU | Other: consulting services | TOTAL of cases (in numbers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
USA |
16% |
47% |
5% |
11% |
11% |
11% |
19 |
|||
|
China |
11% |
33% |
6% |
11% |
17% |
17% |
6% |
18 |
An overview of the achievements of each partnership can be found below. This includes details on a series of new tools and innovative collaboration methods for enhancing SMEs internationalisation activities that could help inspire other cluster organisations.
Strand 2 - Implementation Phase
Strand 1 - Preparation Phase
Voluntary Partnership
The ESCP-4i represent a wide panel of sectors and have succeeded in establishing contacts in various international countries, with the United States of America, Brazil and Mexico having been considered the most attractive markets for their SME members. The table below provides an overview of events organised in the different countries:
| Country | Number of events |
|---|---|
|
United States of America |
29 |
|
Brazil |
18 |
|
Mexico |
15 |
|
Japan |
13 |
|
Canada |
11 |
|
Peru |
9 |
|
China - Morocco - Colombia - Taiwan, each |
6 |
|
Iran – Singapore – Philippines – Chile – United Arab Emirates, each |
3 |
|
Australia – South Africa, each |
2 |
|
South Korea – India – Malaysia – Tunisia – Norway – Turkey, each |
1 |