The results of the work of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts in the first year of its mandate will be presented by Minister Gordan Maras, who will also announce the Entrepreneurial Impulse 2013 program.
Minister of Entrepreneurship and Crafts Gordan Maras will today present the results of work in the first year of his mandate and announce the Entrepreneurial Impulse 2013 program.
– In the first nine months of this year, with the help of state incentives and guarantees, 12,000 more jobs were created in small and medium-sized enterprises than were closed. This is a significant number in the context of rising unemployment in the country – Maras said in an interview with Večernji list. Next year, the funds available for the Entrepreneurial Impulse will nearly double.
– In the budget, we have reserved 730 million kuna for incentives next year, which is 80 percent more funding than this year. Along with incentives from other ministries, this sector will have around one billion kuna available in 2013 – the minister says, explaining that this will be the first time that these incentives exceed those for shipbuilding. According to AZTN data, out of 67 billion kuna in incentives from 2003 to 2010, only 998.4 million kuna, or 1.5 percent, was directed to small and medium-sized enterprises, says Maras. Another novelty is that the Entrepreneurial Impulse will be open throughout the year.
– At the end of January or in February, the government should approve the Entrepreneurial Impulse, and after that, we will open a competition that will last the whole year until the funds are exhausted – Maras announced.
