The first competition for grants for companies and start-ups for regional industrial transition has been announced, where each project can receive a minimum of one million euros and a maximum of three million euros, of which as much as 85 percent are non-repayable funds. This is a project titled Strengthening Strategic Partnerships for Innovations in the Process of Industrial Transition, aimed at encouraging structural changes in regional economies through the development of new products and services in higher value-added niches of Adriatic, Pannonian, and Northern Croatia.
Eligible projects are consortia of entrepreneurs consisting of at least three entrepreneurs, of which two must be small and/or medium-sized enterprises, and projects may also include organizations for research and knowledge dissemination.
As noted by Ana Fresl, director of the Equal Development Project, a consulting firm for EU projects, the idea of the competition is for a consortium of at least three, ideally five entrepreneurs, to design two innovative products or two new services in the next three years, and entrepreneurs can receive up to three million euros in non-repayable funds for project costs.
– Development projects can be in the fields of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, creative industries, IT, tourism, agriculture and food, industry and technology, smart services, and similar – emphasized Fresl.
Implementation of 36 Months
The call thus covers feasibility studies, industrial research, experimental development, and infrastructure for development. The maximum duration of the project implementation period is 36 months.
As recently explained to Lider by Minister Šime Erlić, the concept of supporting regions in industrial transition is a concept for which there is already European know-how and aims to stimulate positive economic and industrial change in regions that are statistically less developed.
500 Million Euros for Three Regions
– What makes us particularly proud is the fact that we managed to negotiate 500 million euros with the European Commission for three Croatian regions, Pannonian, Adriatic, and Northern Croatia, with the aim of their industrial transition. The money available to us will serve as direct financial support that we will direct to companies wishing to invest in innovative products and to start-ups that want to be part of recognized regional value chains. The goal of encouraging companies to engage in these value chains is to strengthen the domestic component of products, i.e., to produce as much as possible of a product in the region – said Erlić, adding that the first step was to identify priority sectors for investment.
