The Cross-Border Textile/Clothing/Fashion Cluster OF The Galicia/North of Portugal Euregion

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the economic integration process between Galicia and the North of Portugal on the textile and clothing sector. In this scope, recently the ATP (Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal), the CITEVE (Centro Tecnológico das Indústrias Têxtil e do Vestuário de Portugal) and the AIPCLOP (Asociación de Industrias de Punto e Confeción de Lugo, Ourense e Pontevedra), began  the  project  EuroClusTex  (Cross-border  textile/clothing/fashion cluster of Galicia/North of Portugal), an initiative which seek to enhance a deeper relationship inter-enterprises between the two Iberian regions. It’s a project that intends to reinforce cooperation between the enterprises of the textile/clothing sector of this two bor- der regions so that, together, they can deal, in a more effi- cient way, with the structural and cyclical challenges they are currently facing. In this context, this study seeks to identify inter-re- gional complementarities that, conveniently explored can increase competitiveness of this euro-region in the cloth and textile sector. If the North of Portugal has a capacity and expertise based on the know-how from several de- cades, on the other hand, Galicia developed competenc- es, mostly in the field of business models of distribution. On the other hand, the small and medium enterprises from Galicia of this industry depend too much on the domestic market, while the companies from the North of Portugal, once they are connected to a small domestic market and with a low purchasing power, has revealed an export tradition. To mingle these capacities may be a way so that the enterprises from this Euroregion are able to assert their ability to compete in the demanding global market of the textile and clothing.