He was speaking at a conference on research and inventions and their effect on the competitive advantage of companies, the economy and the state. The event was organised by the business weekly.
Sundov said that although Croatia was ahead of the other two European Union accession candidates, Bulgaria and Romania, all three were considerably behind more developed countries, including EU members, in terms of innovation capacity and investment in research and development.
Although statistically speaking Croatia invests more in research and development than Bulgaria and Romania, surveys show this investment to be insufficiently effective.
Due to this lagging behind, EU accession candidates cannot fit into development goals set before the EU in the next two years.
Science and technology are among the areas covered by the Croatian government's development strategy for the period 2006-13, Martina Dalic, state secretary at the State Office for the Development Strategy, said presenting the document, adding it was expected to be finalised by the end of this month.