Country Report: Switzerland Introduction
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Country Report: Switzerland Introduction This report has been written as a part of the Europe INNOVA Cluster Mapping Project. One part of the project is a mapping of cluster policies, cluster institutions and cluster programmes in European Countries. For each country, a separate report has been written. Oxford Research AS in Nor- way has been responsible for the mapping of cluster policies. Oxford Research has developed the structure of the mapping and prepared the final reports. Most of the work has however been done by research institutes or consultancies in the different countries. These organisations are members of “The European Network for Social and Economic Research – ENSR” or partners in the Europe INNOVA Cluster Mapping Project. Based on the national reports, the main findings have been summarised by Oxford Research in a separate report. The Europe INNOVA Cluster Mapping Project has been financed by the European Commission. The views expressed in this report, as well as the information included in it, do however not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the European Commission and in no way commits the institution. Kristiansand, Norway, December 2007. Harald Furre Managing director Oxford Research AS Please find more information about the Cluster Mapping Project and the Authors of this report on: www.clusterobservatory.eu www.oxfordresearch.eu www.ensr-net.com Forfatter: HF Sist lagret: 21.12.2007 16:42:00 Sist utskrevet: 21.12.2007 17:36:00 O:\Aktive prosjekter\54 EU cluster mapping\Country reports\Country reports copy\Switzerland.doc Versjon: 12 Antall sider: 16 Report written by: Dr. Heiko Bergmann and Walter Weber KMU-HSG – Swiss Research Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Gallen, Dufourstrasse 40a, CH-9000 St. Gallen Telephone: +41 71 224 71 00, Fax +41 71 224 71 01 Email: [email protected], [email protected] Main ministries responsible for Finance/ Science/ Trade/ Interior Other implementing cluster policy Economy Research Industry x Key agencies responsible for State secretariat for Economic affairs (SECO) Location Switzerland implementing cluster policy Is cluster Yes No x policy their only task? Are there any national cluster Yes No x Number of programmes? programmes Are there any regional cluster Yes x No 4 programmes? Source of financing National programmes Regional programmes National ministries x EU structural fund Regional budget x Business x Other x Importance of cluster policy Low Medium High National level x Regional level x Policy papers on national level Yes No x Cluster policy over time Increased impor- Reduced importance Shifted tance Since when has cluster policy been used? 1990-95 1995-2000 2000-05 2005- x Cluster development related to a particu- Yes x No lar person/organization? Individual Business org. Political party Agency x Research inst. Successful cluster programmes There are no comprehensive evaluations of cluster programmes in Switzerland so far Is there a cluster or Yes No A general council exists competitive council? Degree of obstacles when No/Low Medium Important building cluster policy General assessments of competitiveness? Yes No x Role of clusters as framework in policy areas Low Medium High Business network policy x FDI attraction policy x Export promotion policy x Sectoral industry policy x 2 Science and education policy x Competition and marked integration x Source: Oxford Research 1.1 Terminology In each country there will be one or possibly several terms or phrases used to de- scribe clusters. In some cases, different terms represent “competing” perspectives on clusters and, as perspectives change over time, one term may gradually replace an- other. In Switzerland the most common word for cluster is, as in the English language, “Cluster”. 1.2 Cluster development programmes and cluster organisations In many countries, there are programmes set up specifically to promote cluster de- velopment. Such programmes can be carried out by existing actors (for example a government agency), or new actors can be set up to run them. Often, one of the purposes of such programmes is to help initiate cluster organisations, that is, the programme provides financing or otherwise promotes the formation of cluster- specific organisations, typically in some form of public-private partnership. A coun- try can have many (even hundreds) of such cluster-level organisations in operation. Here is presented the identified cluster agencies and cluster programmes at national and regional level in Switzerland. 1.2.1 Agencies for cluster policy implementation There is no explicit cluster policy at the national level in Switzerland. A cluster policy would come close to an industrial policy and Switzerland explicitly does not follow an industrial policy. Therefore, there is also no ministry department, agency or other government organization responsible for the implementation of cluster policy in Switzerland. However, certain fields of economic policy, business promotion and innovation policy also affect cluster development in Switzerland. SECO The ministry for economic affairs in Switzerland is the “State Secretariat for Eco- nomic Affairs” (SECO). Within this ministry, the main department that deals with matters relating to cluster development is the Directorate for business and location promotion (“Direction für Standortförderung”). This department deals with Small Business Policy, Export and Investment promotion, Regional Policy and Tourism. For more information, please contact State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO Effingerstrasse 31 CH-3003 Bern 3 Tel. +41 (0)31 322 56 56 Fax +41 (0)31 322 27 49 www.seco.admin.ch ”Location Switzerland” “Location Switzerland” as part of the SECO (see above) generally supports the es- tablishment of new enterprises in Switzerland. In this context it explicitly mentions clusters in Switzerland (clusters in biotechnology, medical technology, ICT, shared services, micro technology and nanotechnology and environmental technologies) as point of interest for foreign investors. As kind of a marketing organisation “Location Switzerland” looks at Switzerland as one big “cluster of clusters”. Nevertheless there are no active cluster policies or active cluster programmes. For more information, please contact Switzerland Headquarters Effingerstrasse 31-35 CH-3003 Bern Tel.: + 41 31 323 07 10 Fax: + 41 31 324 86 00 E-mail: [email protected] www.locationswitzerland.ch The “Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology” (BBT) The “Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology” (BBT) supports innovative technologies and innovative start-ups. It does not follow a specific re- gional cluster policy but it offers support for innovative start-ups from universities and research institutions and contributes to the development of clusters in Switzer- land. For more information, please contact CTI: The Innovation Promotion Agency (KTI) Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology OPET (BBT) Effingerstrasse 27 CH-3003 Bern Tel. +41 (0)31 322 21 29 Fax +41 (0)31 324 96 15 www.bbt.admin.ch/kti/ All the above mentioned organisations have (many) other tasks besides cluster devel- opment. As already mentioned, there is no explicit cluster policy at the national level in Swit- zerland. Therefore, cluster development is not a specific task of these organisations. The organisations deal with policies that (may) affect cluster development. There are 26 Cantons in Switzerland which have a number of responsibilities and authorities. Most cantons have departments for business development which are interested in the development of business and industry in their Canton. Some Canton actively support Cluster development, partly only in a more idealistic way, partly also by giving financial support to cluster initiatives. 4 Source: See Websites above; Interview with Mr Rudolf Schiess and Mr Patrick Laederach from “seco” 1.2.2 National cluster programmes As already mentioned, there is no explicit cluster policy at the national level in Swit- zerland. There are also no explicit programmes for cluster development at the na- tional level. The Law about Regional Policy in Switzerland (Gesetz über Regionalpolitik, 6 Octo- ber 2006) does not mention the word "Cluster". However, it states that financial support can be given to initiatives, programmes and projects that support the innova- tion potential of a region, enhance the utilization of the regional capability and build up or improve regional value creation systems. The Nanocluster Bodensee is one initiative that gets as a pilot project financial sup- port from the federal government as part of this regional policy. 1.2.3 Regional cluster programme There are four regional cluster programmes in Switzerland a) The Ark (Canton of Valais) b) Cluster Policy of the Canton of Bern c) Biovalley Basel d) Nanocluster Bodensee 1.2.3.1 “The Ark” (Canton of Valais) The programme has been initiated by the Canton of Valais and is supported by the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Communes of Martigny, Monthey, Sierre, Sion, Visp and Brig and the regions “ARS” (region of Sion), “ARMS” (region of Monthey-St-Maurice) and “Sierre Région” (region of Sierry) Time horizon: unlimited Programme initiator: Canton of Valais Programme actor: “Foundation The Ark”, Canton of Valais, Sion. “The Ark” was founded by the earlier “Valais-Technologies” project The initiation department of canton of the Valais is also responsible for the eco- nomic development of the canton. Geographic