Textile Trade Association - Textile Cluster

The Textile Trade Association – Textile Cluster (TTA-TC) was established in 2006 through the merger of two organizations: Textile Trade Association (TTA) established in 2003 and the Textile Cluster (TC) established in 2004. TTA-TC is a non-profit organization that represents companies involved in any way in the textile industry. The main goal of the cluster is better communication between the members in order to create favorable conditions for the development of the textile industry, as well as to improve their competitiveness, by following the global trends in the global market and adjusting domestic production to such trends.

With a membership base consisting of 90 companies, it is the largest business organization for the textile and apparel industry in Republic of North Macedonia. TTA-TC has an office in Shtip, where it is registered, and an executive office in Skopje. The four main activities of the cluster are: export promotion, HR development, lobbying and advocacy and project development and implementation.

TTA-TC board of directors consists of 15 members. Current president of the cluster is Ms. Marijana Perkovska. Since 2005, the Cluster is managed by a professional manager, Ms. Natasha Sivevska who is working on the position of Executive Director of the Cluster. Ms. Sivevska holds B.Sc. in Textile Engineering and has over 27 years of work experience in the textile sector. At the moment TTA-TC has three full time employees.

Our activities
Textile cluster executive office coordinates and manage Textile cluster activities in 4 main areas:
1. Promotion of the sector in foreign markets, attracting buyers and its connection with domestic producers. In this area, Textile cluster regularly participate in 1-3 internationally recognized fairs per year and organize B2B events for entering new markets suggested by its members.
2. Human resources development - providing professional staff for the needs of textile companies. In this area, the Textile cluster cooperates with educational institutions such as Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Skopje - Institute for textile engineering, with whom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, also Textile Technology Faculty in Stip and the secondary textile schools in Stip, Vinica, Delchevo, Makedonska Kamenica, etc. Under different projects foreign experts are engaged for improving quality and productivity in the companies trough appropriate trainings of the staff.
3. Relations with Government institutions, where Textile cluster indicates the negative consequences of certain legislation and procedures, and in joint cooperation tries to make appropriate adjustments that will influence to increase the competitiveness of the sector

4. Participation in projects in the country and wider, supported by various donor organizations and the EU programs. Projects enable linking and networking of the Textile Cluster with other clusters from the region and beyond, as well as a series of activities targeted to cluster members

Over the past 15 years, the cluster was able to maintain its sustainability through coordinating, managing and implementing or participating in more than 30 domestic and international projects. TTA TC was the catalyst of different projects, mainly in the fields of export promotion, standardization and production improvement, supported by different donors such as USAID, SIPPO, GIZ, ADA and IPA and EU. In these projects TTA-TC, depending on the project, played the roles of intermediary, project partner and lead partner and was the coordinator of all the activities including fair participation, B2B events, buyer missions, seminars and trainings, export promotion, analyzes and strategy development, etc. Participation in all of these projects and activities was in compliance with the Mission of the Textile cluster - to meet the needs of its members by offering appropriate services.

Internationally, the Textile Cluster is a member of the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP), and actively participates in the activities of this organization including capacity building of the cluster, internationalization and SME’s match making. TTA-TC is also a member of Amfory BSCI platform for social compliance and sustainable production which is very important for the internally developed service for the members in the implementation of social standards. The Textile cluster is also member of Cluster House of Serbia where we exchange experience with other clusters from the region.

Domestically, TTA-TC is a member in the Ministry of Finance – Custom authority advisory board discussing trade, rules of origin, customs duties and removal of trade barriers. The executive director is also a member of advisory group at the Institute for standardization working on adopting the EU standards for textile sector and also a member of sectorial group of the National frame for qualifications at the Ministry of science and education. The partnership that Textile cluster built with the textile associations from the cross-border region: North Macedonia - Bulgaria and North Macedonia - Greece, provided realization of 4 projects with Bulgaria and 2 projects with Greece.