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Over the last decade, clusters have attracted substantial attention from policy makers, legislatures, business leaders, academics, economic development practitioners and development agencies. Cluster development strategies have been implemented in many parts of the world. Thirty countries, thirty-two American states and all of the Nordic countries have implemented cluster initiatives to position their economies to meet the challenges of the new economy. Clusters are present in the economies of developed and developing nations, large and small, urban and rural, and across jurisdictions (e.g., nations, states, metropolitan areas, regions and cities).
Governments with widely differing ideologies and philosophies have instituted cluster promotion policies. In the United States and Canada, liberal and conservative governments have adopted cluster-based strategies. They are being employed in Europe by governments across the spectrum - right to left. In the Asia Pacific region, national and local governments from Australia and Malaysia, to New Zealand and Singapore have adopted cluster strategies.
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