PROMOTION OF SMEs and ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN CROATIA The 4th Meeting of the EGTC Approval Authorities April 2015, Budapest, Hungary Dragica Karajić, M.Sc. Priority Area 8 Coordinator Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Croatia

Big Data on SMEs and Entrepreneurship Promotion are like "teenage sex„ everyone talks about it,  nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it... Dan Ariely

SMEs in Croatia in figures: 99.5% of all registered enterprises in Croatia are SMEs = about : Micro enterprises  92% Small enterprises  6% Medium enterprises  2% Share in GDP  60% Share in total employment  68%

Eurobarometer 2012 Data on Croatian Entrepreneurship: 54% of the population see self-employment as affirmative attitude, and would like to be an entrepreneur (EU 37%), but 80% of the population consider self-employment as not feasible (EU 67%)

National Strategic Documents Strategy for Entrepreneurship and SME Development in Croatia ; Strategy for Entrepreneurship Education in Croatia, ; ; OP for Regional Competitiveness Development ; S tructural Funds: OP for Competitiveness and Cohesion ; Continuation of SME Policy : 20 years & alignement with Charter/SBA principles

Strategic goals in SMEs development ENTERPRISE COMPETITIVENESS ACCESS TO FINANCE – national SME Grant Schemes ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROMOTION – institutional support ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IMPROVEMENT

Lifelong Entrepreneurial Learning significant contribute to the economic competitiveness Entrepreneurship as a KEY COMPETENCE APPROACH in all levels of formal, non formal and informal education The first institutional structured example of successful cooperation of 8 South East European countries in mutual implementation of the Charter/ Small Business Act for Europe Entrepreneurial Learning is implemented by South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning – SEECEL with seat in Zagreb LIFELONG ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING in Croatia

Cluster workshops “Cluster Networking and Development Prospects in the Danube Region” 1st Cluster workshop - September 2012, Vukovar, Croatia 2nd Cluster workshop - September 2013, Vukovar, Croatia 3rd Cluster workshop - March 2015, Vukovar, Croatia Focus on funding possibilities for cluster development Potential sectors recognized for further development and clustering - especially metal and wood processing, organic food processing, services in tourism Each Workshop gathered above 100 participants from 14 Danube Region countries – clusters networking CLUSTERS DEVELOPMENT

Clusters mapping and benchmarking exercise Potential high impact in strong areas : automotive, wood processing, ICT, tourism Next Generation Competitiveness Initiative:  focus on clusters expanded to whole Danube region – opportunity for SMEs Competitiveness Next Generation

In Pursuit of a new ‘Enterprise’ and ‘Entrepreneurship’ Paradigm for Learning (Allan Gibb 2002) The author, in pursuing this line of argument, has introduced the concept of ‘entrepreneurial capacities’ as: “Those capacities that the constitute the basic, necessary sufficient conditions for the pursuit of effective entrepreneurial behaviour individually, organisationally and societaly in an increasingly turbulent and global environment’.

Thank you for your attention! Further information on: Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts Croatia Wirtschaftsministerium Baden-Württemberg