Internationalization and the power of the cluster cooperation Genoveva Christova – Murray President Bulgarian Furniture Cluster

2001 – 2004 PHARE and GTZ IT Wood & Furniture Rose Oil Wine IT

2005 – 2006 PHARE I

2007 – 2008 PHARE II ICT Mechatronics IT Maritime Energy Tourism Wood & Furniture Lasers and Optics Apparel ICT Mechatronics Maritime Energy Tourism

Main conclusions Huge interest due to the financial support Project based clusters, no sustainability Intensive financial support National cluster strategy – project based Lack of sustainable approach and continues actions outside the programmes’ framework Lack of capacity in the responsible state institutions

Current situation 2007 – 2013 - Huge interest, but mainly to access the cluster grants, more than 60 clusters in Bulgaria within the last call for proposals, not related to the strategic priorities or to the competitive industries in the country Establishment of ABC – 18 members, among them 5 bronze labels – www.abclusters.org New leaders and clusterpreneurs

2. Bulgarian Furniture Cluster – a success story in spite of the national cluster policy, or …. lack of it!

Why in cluster? How to stay competitive in increasing competition? DESIGN STUDIOS UNIVERSITIES NGOs How to stay competitive in increasing competition? How to keep pace with Europe? How to be noticed when coming from a small country? FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS

CLUSTER’S LOCATION

What are we doing?

Main cluster activity Joint orders – LIGNA GROUP Ltd Joint Marketing Activities - examples: The Sleep Event London 2010 & 2011 Milano Design Week 2011 (via Tortona) imm Cologne 2011 HI Design Valencia 2013 Baku build, Azerbaijan October 2013 Trade missions (b2b) – Holzcluster Austria; The Chair Triangle in Italy

FURNITURE INDUSTRY Segmentation Markets Products Hotels Contract furniture Re-manufacturing Аny furniture product that is sold on a large scale used for commercial purposes not meant for residential purpose Low attractiveness High competition Low profit

RESULTS: 2007 - 2013 6 890 hotel rooms in Europe Preferred supplier for 2 Hotel Groups in Germany

RESULTS: 2007 - 2013 2300 CITROEN showrooms in France 1520 finished from Dec 2011 till Aug 2013

Success Factors No EU funding The neutral position of the leading company Starting as an Export Consortia, now a Cluster with a serious Action Plan Early wins in Market Development The Cluster has dispelled the myth that Companies in the same Sector or in the same City will not co-operate. In fact in a Recession they will co-operate more! The Cluster is simple – it “makes people think in one direction”!

Let's get CLUSTERING ! www.furnitureclusterbg.com