As part of a new policy aimed at promoting international cluster cooperation for SMEs, DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission has launched in 2012 an initiative that contributes to organise specific match-making events to support cluster organisations and their SME members in their efforts to develop partnerships and business cooperation on global markets.

This action will facilitate the internationalisation of European SMEs involved in these match-making events and allow them to access overseas markets and establish technology or business partnerships and therefore increase their innovation capacity and make them more competitive on the global scale. These events shall also contribute to prepare the ground for practical cluster cooperation across borders and make a more strategic use of transnational cluster cooperation on markets outside Europe in areas of strategic interest. The first event was organised in Japan.

18 European delegates participated in this mission composed of 9 couples: “Cluster & SME”

The mission, co-organised by Fondation Sophia Antipolis and the EU Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, was held in Tokyo from November 12 to 15, 2012, notably during the Green Innovation expo 2012 that represented a real opportunity for the European Cluster Delegation to develop partnerships and to initiate cooperation agreements with Japanese entities in the field of green materials, covering in particular the following segments:

• Materials & components promoting energy saving Materials & components promoting reduction of environmental burdens
• Materials & components promoting weight reduction
• Materials & components for energy generation & storage
• Materials & components promoting longer life
• Technologies supporting the development of new applications for materials and components