In each region of the Republic of Kazakhstan, there are groups of enterprises within individual industries that occupy leading positions in the region. The peculiarity of the cluster approach is the study of the basic principles of the organization of industrial interaction at the regional level. This approach provides opportunities to increase the competitiveness of enterprises, as well as to increase the effectiveness of the economic policy of the region. The cluster approach creates a basis for knowledge exchange and encourages new combinations in the field of education, research and development.

In the course of the conducted preliminary studies (based on the analysis of indicators of the ratio of labor productivity and labor concentration - data on the economic impact on the region /region) 50 effective sectors of the manufacturing industry that are potentially of interest for the deployment of cluster policy have been identified. According to the results of diagnostics of the quantitative and qualitative composition of enterprises in cluster formations, the critical mass is present only in 33 groups, 2 cluster formations of the 33 groups in Atyrau region and Shymkent MCEA 1920 "Production of refined petroleum products, peat and coal briquettes" are the prerogative of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and belong to the strategic sector of the economy. In addition, the group of enterprises of the Aktobe region MCEA 2410 "Production of cast iron, steel and ferroalloys" also cannot be classified as a cluster formation due to the presence of a large enterprise TNC "Kazchrome" JSC. In this case, it is recommended to implement a Supplier Development Service around the specified enterprise, which will allow consolidating small and medium-sized businesses around the base enterprise.

In general, 29 cluster formations in the regions are stable, historically established groups of enterprises. Out of 29 diagnosed cluster formations:

 – 9 relate to the construction industry, namely the production of building materials (MCEAs: 2332 "Production of bricks, tiles and other construction products from baked clay", 2361 "Production of concrete construction products", 2511 "Production of building metal structures and their parts", 2320 "Production of refractory products", 2351 "Production cement").

– 7 belong to the food industry of cluster formations in six MCEAs (1051 "Milk processing and cheese production", 1072 "Production of crackers and biscuits, flour confectionery of long-term storage", 1073 "Production of pasta", 1061 "Production of products of the flour and cereal industry", 1071 "Production of bread; production of fresh flour confectionery, cakes and pastries", 1041 "Production of oils and fats").

– there are cluster formations in railway, agricultural engineering, electrical equipment production, metallurgy.

The stimulation of cluster formations will certainly lead to an increase in the level of competitiveness of the domestic manufacturing industry. Regional aspects of cluster development have great potential in this direction.

We also note that today there are 6 pilot territorial clusters: construction (Karaganda region), furniture (Almaty), pharmaceutical (South Kazakhstan region), flour milling (Kostanay region), milk processing cluster (Akmola region), tourism (Almaty region). All 6 pilot territorial clusters are holders of the bronze label of the EU Cluster Development Commission.