CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Production and transfer of knowledge, the processes of implementation and diffusion of innovations have crucial role in the context of the regional economic growth and competitiveness of the country as a whole. Successful course of these processes is enhanced by creation of a network of regional innovative interaction between the main «actors» of the innovative development, such as: scientific-research institutes, universities and providers of business services. The geographical proximity of these structures, which are interested in innovative development in the small territory of the autonomy examined by us, plays a crucial role in the establishment of an effective communication process between them. In addition to this type of proximity, the «actors» should also have cognitive proximity, which implies the overall knowledge that helps understanding and successfully absorbing new information in the process of interaction. Development of these processes is based on the processes of territorial clustering, and namely the creation of innovation networks, contributing to the acceleration of the interactive learning process between local innovation actors and their external partners, accumulation of regional knowledge based on the concept of cognitive economy. Based on the analysis of cluster policy the Republic of Moldova, this paper identifies the trends and mechanisms of development of cluster policy at the regional level. The experience of cluster establishment is described based on the example of development region of ATU Gagauzia.