Building Cluster Observatory of Kazakhstan: A Step Towards Organic Cluster Policy

Abstract

Traded clusters are geographic concentrations of interrelated industries. While their positive effects are commonly agreed with, some governments still do not have a sound and structured cluster policy. Kazakhstan is not an exception. Introduced by the government in 2005, the notion of clusters has been largely misinterpreted, if compared to the universally accepted definition. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges in cluster policy formation in Kazakhstan and to offer recommendations on its improvement. Towards this goal, the article provides the evaluation of the government approach to traded clusters and presents a cluster observatory prototype based on the original methodology by Delgado, Porter, and Stern [16]. We argue that clusters must be redefined in the local policymaking, and that cluster observatory could be a major tool for addressing existing policy gaps. While the text is centered around Kazakhstan, its major findings could contribute to a broader group of countries.