ZAGREB, May 5 (Hina) - A four-year programme for the encouragement of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship containing 42 projects was endorsed by the Croatian government on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, May 5 (Hina) - A four-year programme for the encouragement of
small and medium-sized entrepreneurship containing 42 projects was
endorsed by the Croatian government on Wednesday.#L#
To increase the number of small and medium-sized businesses and the
number of employees per trade, to remove administrative obstacles and
strengthen export are some of the goals of the programme, Economy,
Labour and Entrepreneurship Minister Branko Vukelic said at the
government's session today.
In European Union member-states small and medium-sized companies are
the driving force of the economic growth and employment. Croatia
cannot be satisfied with the current number of such businesses and
their economic power or the activities in which they are engaged.
More than 60 percent of small and medium-sized businesses in Croatia
operate in the commercial sector or provide services, with
manufacturing plants accounting for merely 15 percent of the
businesses.
TEA Index, which monitors the ratio of newly-established small and
medium-sized business to the number of adult citizens in the past 42
months, stands at 3.6 percent in Croatia as against 9.1 percent in
Ireland.
The Ivo Sanader Cabinet adopted the programme to change this trend and
engage in entrepreneurship specific population categories, such as
young women or war veterans. The government in cooperation with local
authorities will launch projects for establishing business zones for
this purpose.
(Hina) ms