At the sixth meeting of the Croatian Chamber of Economy’s Association of Small Shipbuilding, the role of clusters as a form of support for increasing production and exports related to the Croatian Export Offensive project was discussed. The attendees concluded that it would be necessary to establish such a ‘top-down’ cluster as there is potential for this type of production in Croatia.
The advantage of a ‘top-down’ cluster is that it is financed by the state with around two million kuna in the first three years. In order to establish it before the government announces a tender, the attendees agreed that all interested parties should contact the secretary of the Association of Small Shipbuilding at the Croatian Chamber of Economy’s Industry Sector. Zdenka Mesić, Head of the Department for the Development of Free Zones, Clusters, and Export Support at the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, gave a presentation on the role of clusters in Croatia, after which a question was raised about the difference between clusters and former business communities, to which no concrete answer could be provided.
Mladen Boršić, a member of the Management Board of the Croatian Metrology Society, spoke about metrology, accreditation, standardization, quality, and the basic conditions for survival in the market, while a representative of PBZ presented the credit programs of Privredna banka Zagreb aimed at financing small and medium-sized enterprises and the placement of boats.
(Antonela Zečević)
