The survey was conducted by the association of the wood processing industry at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) in cooperation with Pricewaterhousecoopers.
The president of the association, Igor Leščić, said that the wood industry is a potent industrial branch with a series of inefficiencies, which is why it is necessary to work on branding and quality design.
"Development and investments are required to achieve those objectives, with EU grants playing a key role," said Leščić.
Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Tramišak said that the wood processing industry is recognised as one of the sectors that has prospects and an opportunity to be more propulsive.
"As part of the new cohesion policy, through two concrete objectives - a smart and green Croatia - we will have about €1 billion available for investments in regional development, and one of the most significant industrial sectors is wood processing. It opens great opportunities to develop the Pannonia region, Lika and northern Croatia," she said.
Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković underscored that during the pandemic, the wood processing industry responded to challenges, kept going and in the first three months of this year increased exports by €315 million compared to the same period last year.
"We can't be satisfied with the numbers in reference to the export of furniture but we had a growth of 7% there too, which is similar to the growth in exports. That shows that the trade balance has not deteriorated in that category," said Vučković.
Modernisation, digitalisation and robotisation are what is needed, the overall transformation of the wood industry - greater use of design and innovative products, the head of an HGK committee for EU funds and policies, Ivić Pašalić, said.
He added that it is possible to achieve a growth of 7% per annum over the next seven years but that will require €100 million times seven.
Pašalić explained that the wood industry employed 25,000 workers and that almost 11% are employed in the manufacturing industry. The sector has more than 2,000 companies and 95% of them are micro or small enterprises. The average monthly wage in that branch in 2020 amounted to €672, with an increase of 5% compared to 2019.
The sector generates an annual revenue of €1.86 billion, it exports more than €1 billion and generates a trade surplus of €376 million. Of the total export, almost €790 million are wood products while €265 million refers to furniture exports.
The survey showed that most enterprises in the sector invest in procuring equipment and machinery as well as for working capital, while investment in digitalisation and development are last on the list.