Akademik Məlumat İdarəetmə Sistemi
ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPMENT, vol.24, no.1, pp.96-106, 2025 (Scopus)
The study aimed to analyse the specifics of promoting economic zones and providing business support in
industrial clusters. To achieve this goal, a sample of the following objects was created: Frankfurt-Höchst Industrial Park
(Germany), North Huntsville Industrial Park (USA), the Industrial Cluster and Knowledge Cluster programmes (Japan)
and Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou (China). The selected clusters were analysed in terms of information exchange
strategies, investment attraction and quality human capital. According to the comparative analysis, the key features of
effective cluster promotion are the creation of an extensive information network for interdisciplinary cooperation and
information exchange, the attraction of investment in human capital development and investment diversification. A
synthetic analysis using SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and Porter’s Five Forces model identified the main obstacles to the effective promotion of economic zones and clusters: shortage of human resources or their poor quality; lack of demand for
the products and/or services offered in the region where the cluster operates; insufficient understanding of the context of
the cluster’s operation, leading to ineffective strategic decisions. Based on the analysis, the following recommendations
were made for the effective promotion of economic zones and clusters in terms of investment, information and human
resources policy: transition to intensive investment and human capital development practices; diversification of
investments, especially in low-income regions with higher priority state budget expenditure items; preliminary contextual
analysis to identify public demand for cluster functioning
Keywords: contextual analysis; development of cooperation; diversification of financing; sustainable development;
capital raising