In 2014-2020 programming period for EU funds 14 clusters are supported. The "Cluster Programme” is co-financed by ERDF under the OP "Growth and Employment” 3.2.IP - supporting the capacity of SMEs to engage in regional, national and international markets & innovation processes.The objective is to increase competitiveness, export capacity and coop of SMEs to promote growth of productivity and high value added products and services. The programme support cooperation and networking between SMEs, education and research institutions and other partners to develop common marketing, internationalisation, research & other projects to develop new products and access new markets. Cluster initiatives are a new measure among the SME support instruments in Latvia and are eager to find out the best practices to achieve the best results and highest impact on the economy through smart investment. Latvian SMEs are still characterised by low productivity, export performance and lack of cooperation as well as a much larger share of low-tech products in the structure of Latvian economy than the EU average. Supporting cluster initiatives is an important tool to boost the cooperation between different actors. The performance of SMEs & clusters has to be flexible to respond to the changing needs of the involved parties, giving the opportunity to improve the programme on a regular basis.
