Project title    Building international competetiveness of the textile companies in the cross border region MK-BG

Lead Partner    Textile Trade Association- Textile cluster Macedonia

Partners     Textile and Clothes Branch Organization

Priority axis    Competetiveness

Specific objective    3.1. Improving competition of the regional business

Duration (in months)    15 months

Total budget (in €)    116873,86

Project Activities    
1. Creating Vision of the Region- To identify how stakeholders want the region to be seen and recognized in the area of textile industry among local population, business sector and national and international partners. Regional Development Board (RDB) will be established as a non-formal body, composed from representatives from the associations and the textile business sector. To achieve results, bottom-up approach will be applied.

2. Developing a Regional Positioning Strategy- To achieve Regional Vision and to create a brand from the region, a five year positioning strategy needs to be developed. The strategy will provide answers to the following:
   - What dimension are critical to position the brand - identify top criteria for decision making among target groups.
  -  Current position of the region regarding the developed regional vision and industry trends.
 -  GAP analysis regarding the defined Vision and objectives and current situation
  -  Steps to achieve desired situation.
The positioning strategy will be based on the GAP analyses developed through self –assessment and risk assessment and questionnaires.

3. Developing the region as a brand - Textile industry must achieve successful recognition of the region in accordance with the Regional Vision and position itself as a brand. To achieve these, the region must have defined minimum standards for the companies and promote well developed supply chains where producers from the region must work together on a united front.  Quality control checkpoints-QCC will be developed based on the requests from national and EU legislation and regulation, as well as requirements from the ETI Based code and other international organizations. Regional logo and a tagline will be also designed.

4. Get the local government, business sector and community buy- Develop communication plan for the associations on how to communicate the benefits to the local community and gain their support. 60 representatives from businesses committed to use the regional brand and members of RDB will be trained to communicate benefits properly and achieve recognition among target audience. Recognition and commitment from the local governmental sector will be achieved through face to face meetings and by participation of LG representatives on open discussions, presentations and other events To get community introduced, the activity will target high school students, studying on textile programmes, from the entire eligible cross border area.

 5. Communicate the region as a brand - In order to position the region as a brand with particular characteristic, creative brief will be developed providing answers to: what is the products/brand,  background, the problem or opportunity the brand addresses, main idea  and why the brand need to be supported. The creative brief will be communicated with target groups through set of promotional activities: TV spot, brochure in hard copy and electronic form, CDs and upgraded associations web pages with project results.   

6. Approaching international target markets - To promote the textile and apparel industry sector among international target groups and acquire trust among them, the project will try to position the companies from the sector through their presentation of a Fair for textile and apparel industry.

Project Results    
1. Defined Regional Point of Difference-RPD (A1)

2. Developed Vision of the region and one-year action plan (A1)

3. Established Regional Development Board (A1)

4. Developed 5 year positioning strategy (A2)

5. Developed Quality Control Checkpoints and procedures for their fulfillment(A3)

6. Designed regional logo and tagline  (A3)

7. Communication Strategy (A4)

8. Trained 60 representatives from the business sector to use the Communication strategy

9. Promoted region through set of promotional materials (TV video spot, brochures, publications, CDs) and international market approach (A5 and A6)

10. Increased competitiveness of textile industry companies in the cross border region (A1-A6)
    
Target Groups    
1. Companies- members of the Textile Trade Association-Textile Cluster and the Textile and Clothes Branch Organization (TCBO)

2. Textile and apparel companies on both sides of the border

3. Mid-Level management of textile and apparel companies of the cross border region

4. Employed personnel in the branch

5. Associations and organizations working in the branch
6. High school students specialized in textile production

7. General Public