Exports Deserve to Be News

– Last year ended with the value of Croatian exports amounting to 22.9 billion euros, which is a nominal decline of 1.2 billion euros, or 5.1 percent. This is a real decline of 9.6 percent, the largest annual decline since 2009 – these were the words with which the 40th meeting of the Lider Exporters Club was opened by its leader, journalist Manuela Tašler.

However, although Germany was highlighted last year as the biggest threat to Croatian commodity exports among our most important markets due to recession, data from the DZS shows that it was not the culprit for last year’s decline in Croatian exports. Exports to Germany actually increased by two percent last year.

The largest decline (as much as 42.5 percent) in last year’s exports occurred in trade with Hungary, where goods worth 1.16 billion euros less than in 2022 were exported. Exports to Slovenia decreased by eight percent last year, and to Italy by 5.2 percent. The decline in exports can be largely attributed to falling prices of mineral fuels and lubricants, which resulted in a 42 percent drop in the value of their exports, or two billion euros.

Despite this, this year has started with a slight indication of optimism for Croatian exporters, as statistics show a modest increase in nominal export value of 3.1 percent and real growth of over five percent in the first two months of 2024 for the first time since last March.

– According to my assessment, the fact that two billion euros of commodity exports were achieved in March this year supports the thesis that commodity exports are recovering from last year’s decline. Foreign trade continues to be significantly influenced by price changes, which were still on the rise at this time last year, and are now on the decline – added Tašler.

The Lider Exporters Club, which currently includes ADPlastik, Alarm Automatika, Amelicor Group, Applied Ceramics, Badel 1862, Bajkmont, BAT Adria, DHL, DIV Group, ECCOS, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Ferro-Preis, HBOR, JGL, Končar, Kraš, Liburnia Maritime Agency, Marsh McLennan, Transmitters and Connections, Podravka, Požgaj Group, Radin Print, Spar, Spider Group, Šestan-Busch, and Tehnix, listened carefully to this data and participated in a joint discussion.

Regardless of who will form the new Government of the Republic of Croatia, it is an excellent moment for us as the Exporters Club to try to establish ourselves as a relevant factor that will influence the new Government of the Republic of Croatia to adopt some proposals that could significantly impact the position of exporters in the next four-year period. This is why this meeting of Club members resembled a working meeting aimed at stimulating discussion in the direction of the demands with which exporters need to welcome the new Government of the Republic of Croatia so that it can implement them into its plans.

Funds sometimes limit rather than help entrepreneurs increase productivity. Namely, the problem with various EU grants and funds is that they simultaneously require investments in automation and digitalization while increasing the number of workers, which is contradictory in itself. Institutional support for promoting domestic companies at trade fairs has been reduced to very low levels, and the costs of participating in international fairs are too high.

Domestic exporters often encounter unfair competition at trade fairs since many countries co-finance their companies’ international presentations, and entire industries have national stands at major fairs. Among the proposals for strengthening exports, the establishment of an Export Promotion Agency and a state guarantee mechanism was highlighted.

Certain competitive countries react better to price pressures, while high energy costs plague the largest domestic producers and exporters, and labor and procedures for importing foreign workers, which are often complicated and slow, remain some of the pressing issues, was the shortened conclusion of the 40th meeting of the Lider Exporters Club.