| Clusterkraft e-Newsletter (Vol.18) NATIONAL Handloom Clusters to get a boost with the Handloom Mark
INTERNATIONAL Bangladesh
Budget to achieve targets of SME development Articles Egypt's
competitiveness on the global scale EVENTS Bangkok ICT Expo August 2006 NATIONAL Handloom Clusters to get a boost with the Handloom Mark The government is planning a package for the handloom
sector that also envisages adding more depots that supply yarn to the
handloom weavers, launching of a ‘handloom mark’ and helping
upgrade the technology of handlooms. In addition to this “NABARD
is working on a financial package to clean up the weavers’ co-operative
society through an infusion of capital. AEPC to set up training centre in Tirupur AEPC is planning to setup a training centre similar
to the Apparel Training and Design Centre in Tirupur. The association
was seeking a garment manufacturing school to train persons to meet
the skilled labor shortage in the trade. The garment manufacturing school
will train persons to be tailors, pattern makers, cutting masters, quality
control personnel, merchandisers and much more in the garment industry.
Ambattur Auto Cluster Needs Land to Grow The Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers' Association
(AIEMA) had requested the State government to allot land for expanding
the SME (small and medium enterprises) clusters in automotive sector
in Tamil Nadu. India and Pakistan will jointly file GI of Basmati India and Pakistan will file a joint application for
Geographical Indication (GI) Registration in the U.S. and Europe for
Basmati rice. India individually has dropped the idea of registering
Basmati rice as it is grown both in India and Pakistan. INTERNATIONAL Bangladesh Budget to achieve targets of SME development Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), reviewed
the Proposed National Budget, 2006-2007 and welcomed it as a positive
one to achieve the targets of SME development and poverty reduction.
DCCI appreciated inclusion of a number of its recommendations in the
proposed Budget and called for their implementation in right earnest
to boost the private sector investment, diversification of export and
broadening of the industrial base of the country. Pakistani Clusters get Rs 1.05b The Punjab state government of Pakistan, under its Annual
Development Programme 2006-7 has allocated Rs 1.05 billion to Industries,
TEVTA and Mines & Minerals. Out of the total allocated amount Rs
180 million has been proposed for Industries. The challenges facing Malaysian Independent Software Vendors Malaysian ISVs are challenged by branding and funding.
Other obstacles include finding and maintaining skilled talent in an
organization, getting new clients and the expensive costs associated
with legal issues involving intellectual property. The biggest challenge
is to convince or change the mindset of Malaysian organizations that
locally developed solutions are as good or in some cases better than
those of our foreign counterparts. ICT road show to help UK businesses to harness technology Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is spreading
rapidly and transforming businesses worldwide and next month ICT support
providers will come together in West Wales (UK) to display the latest
business ICT technology at an event organised by the Welsh Assembly
Government. The focus areas are: E-trading and E-procurement and E-security.
BASIS observations on Bangladeshi Budget: ICT key to reforms “ICTs can play a gigantic role in boosting up
Bangladesh and its economy. The government has allocated money for many
sectors like health, education, communications, etc. It is to be noted,
however, that without help from ICTs none of these sectors will be able
implement their projects.” Sarwar Alam, President of Bangladesh
Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) made this observation
when presenting the budget recommendation of BASIS at a press briefing.
Botswana: Garment Industry benefits from Clustering Years after scrapping the Financial Assistance Policy
(FAP), the United Nations Development Programme and government are picking
up the morsels and forming business clusters, aimed at reviving the
garment industry and in turn addressing poverty especially in the rural
areas. Articles Egypt's competitiveness on the global scale If Egypt wants to realize global competitiveness, they
have to be able to produce goods and services that are of high enough
quality to find a place in the domestic and, more importantly, the global
market. Emerging giants like China and India have proven the point,
and their experience has become a model to emulate. This year's Egyptian
Competitiveness Report (ECR) analyses the change in rankings, and presents
an overview of government policy reforms and their impacts. It also
focuses on a few major issues that are crucial to competitiveness, such
as the role of industry, and the importance of innovation. Fostering Innovation How does a business develop an innovation culture when the creative spark usually comes from individuals? This article tries to outline the various guidelines
that are essential to foster innovation among businesses. Innovation
is approached systematically and the pro’s and con’s of
an innovative approach are given. EVENTS Bangkok ICT Expo August 2006 The Bangkok ICT Expo is arranging an ICT SME Summit
during the expo (2nd–6th August 2006). To add value for clients,
all exhibitors can participate in 3 areas without cost. The 3 sections
are as follows; ICT SME Seminar, ICT SME Business Matching, Multilateral
Thailand. Disclaimer: This newsletter is published by clusters.org, a portal dedicated to Cluster Development Professionals. It aims at creating a platform and a resource for networking of Cluster Development Professionals. This email and the attached newsletter are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the members who have subscribed to it. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and primary and secondary data sources and do not necessarily represent those of ‘Clusterkraft.’ If you are not the intended recipient of this email and the newsletter, you must take no action based upon them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email by mistake. If you want to unsubscribe from our mailing list, you can do so by replying to this mail with the subject as “unsubscribe”. Or click on the link below. …………………………………………………………………………………. |