On 30 January 2023, representatives from the National Clusters Association (NCA), Jiri Herinek, President of NCA, Ivo Riha, Vice President of NCA, and Renata Pfefferova, Project Manager, met with the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance (UCA), Alexander Yurchak, UCA chairman and Olga Trofymova, director of „Export-Internationalization“ department. The reason for the meeting was to discuss NCA´s involvement in the event Cluster Meet Regions, which will take place in Košice, Slovakia, 29.3.-30.3.2023. 

NCA presented the association and some of the members and introduced its activities to the UCA representatives. The UCA, in turn, introduced their alliance and presented its newest actions and events that took place in their last year. The UCA is a young association that has been operating since 2021 and has been able to create new partnerships in different countries quickly. The Czech Republic is one of these countries where the UCA cooperates with some of the Czech clusters. Thanks to Czechinno, they were able to receive financial support.

Alexander was curious about NCA´s opinion on Czechinno. The president of NCA, Jiri Herinek, explained that Czechinno and the NCA couldn´t be compared because they are different organisations with different focuses. However, he stressed that the NCA is the only cluster organisation in the Czech Republic representing Czech clusters and defending their needs. He also mentioned the close cooperation with the  Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Cluster Map, which is unique in the Czech Republic.  The NCA is proud to have such a tool which serves as a list of clusters and technology platforms in the Czech Republic but also helps obtain financial subsidies OP TAK. The Ministry of Industry and Trade also appreciates the Map of Clusters. A validated profile of a cluster organisation is one of the mandatory conditions for applying for subsidies for developing cluster organisations. 

Alexander mentioned the collaboration with the Czechinno, the mission to the Czech Republic, and participation in the Ukrainian-Czech SmartExport forum, which took place in Brno on 6 October 2021. Alexander believes that NCA and UCA could connect and start cooperating as early as in April 2023. The NCA president suggests there could be a connection between the Czech and Slovak Republics, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary, as well as Romania.

The following questions were raised during the discussion and should be taken into consideration:
How can we promote cooperation between Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian clusters? In which areas can we cooperate?

Ivo Riha, Vice President of the NCA and Chairman of the Board of Directors of CEDEG MetaCluster, answered the second question. He believes we could connect the aerospace and defence industries and the green and digital industries. These topics are the hottest right now, and the NCA boasts members who can cover these areas. He added that it would certainly not hurt anyone if Masaryk University in Brno could also be involved.

All attendees liked the idea of cooperation, so the NCA and the UCA representatives decided to meet again on 22 February 2023. This time the NCA, together with selected members, will present themselves to the UCA members. It will be a pitching session. It is clear to all involved that a new idea is being born and needs to be developed.

Regarding the topic for the panel discussion, Alexander added that this topic is still evolving and will be specified later. The NCA hopes the topic for the panel discussion could be The potential cooperation between Czech and Ukrainian cluster organisations in defence and development areas.