Ministry of Economy has recognized the potential of the Wood Processing Sector and Furniture Production as key industries

Entering the Industrial Strategy is a big boost for the sector to work even better, to strengthen its domestic and international competitiveness and to meet the required criteria and objectives set out in the Strategy. In recent years, and especially during 2014, sectoral indicators have been truly encouraging. The wood industry has achieved a growth in exports 21 percent over the previous year’s figures, as well as a growth in the number of the finished products based on domestic raw materials (over 56 percent).

The wood industry is based on several important factors, starting with the centuries-old tradition, a good quality workforce, traditional markets and exceptional raw material. In fact, the wood industry is, apart from agriculture and tourism, one of the economic identities of Croatia, since 50 percent of the Croatian land territory is covered with forests.

The adoption of the Strategy represents a crucial industrial question. The Cluster’s arguments finally mobilized the interest of key institutions and different groups of producers to achieve a compromise solution. The Industrial Strategy undoubtedly represents the central developmental document that will enable better evaluation of the potential of all industrial sectors in the Republic of Croatia. Likewise, its implementation can lead to significant growth, and the ending of a number of negative trends, such as the process of deindustrialization, to which wood production is often exposed.

STATEMENT: Ivan Vrdoljak, Minister, Ministry of Economy

The wood processing industry and furniture production are among the main export oriented
industries, and we believe that they should enjoy national and EU support, accoding to the Strategy of Smart Specialisation.