Serbian Cluster Association, as an umbrella organization for clusters in Serbia, creates common ground for cooperation. SCAN has been created on the foundation of long-term cooperation of clusters in Serbia. Establishment of SCAN is a logical next step in the development of that cooperation and formalization of the joint platform.

As a national-level Association, SCAN will serve as a platform for cooperation among clusters, and will support creation of new cluster initiatives and their development. Building a partner network with national and international institutions, donor community, as well as creating platform for lobbying toward governmental structures, including business and academia, will certainly be some of the primary activities of the Association.

Clusters are not novelty in Serbia. Different cluster initiatives have been started – some progressed fast and became important clusters, others are still developing, while third are still trying to find their path. Establishment of the Serbian Cluster Association should help significantly to these processes, and provide a vessel for Serbian clusters to join and use in their pursuit of a strong and healthy cluster panorama in our country.

Development of clusters in Serbia today is burdened with many difficulties. The most important ones are lack of awareness about the need for the kind of synergy that clusters bring, insufficient managerial capacities and knowledge within clusters, and chronic lack of finances.

The story about clusters is the story of comradeship, solidarity, focus, shared goals and success. SCAN intends to gather Serbian clusters around those values and inspire long-term efforts.

The seven clusters from different sectors are the founders of the Serbian Cluster Association: Vojvodina ICT Cluster – VOICT, Autocluster Serbia, ICT Network, Vojvodina Metal Cluster – VMC, Fashion and Apparel Cluster of Serbia – FACTS, Nis Cluster of Advanced Technologies – NiCAT, and ICT Cluster of Central Serbia. Members of these clusters have 30,000+ employees and create annual revenues that amount to over €1,000,000,000 – and the most of it in exports.