ZAGREB ZAGREB, May 5 (Hina) - In the next five years Croatia's wood-processing industry should increase its income from 800 million to 1.9 billion euros, increase the manufacture of finished products with a high degree of added value
from 50 million to as much as one billion euros, start introducing five new products annually and reduce the export of logs from 105 to 60 million euros.
ZAGREB, May 5 (Hina) - In the next five years Croatia's wood-
processing industry should increase its income from 800 million to
1.9 billion euros, increase the manufacture of finished products
with a high degree of added value from 50 million to as much as one
billion euros, start introducing five new products annually and
reduce the export of logs from 105 to 60 million euros. #L#
These are objectives from a competitiveness strategy for the wood-
processing industry, presented on Monday by a cluster of wood-
processing companies and the Croatian Competitiveness Initiative.
The strategy should result in the balanced growth of the domestic
wood-processing industry and improve its competitiveness on the
world market.
Another benefit of the strategy would be an increase in the number
of employees in the finishing sector from 12,500 to 40,000.
Despite the fact that the country has vast forest areas, Croatia's
furniture imports are higher than its exports. According to the
Croatiadrvo company, furniture imports in 2002 totalled US$205
million, while exports totalled US$146 million.
The strategy of the wood-processing cluster suggests measures
which should improve the management of the existing resources.
It is the result of the eight-month-long work of the cluster, which
was established with the help of the Croatian Competitiveness
Initiative, which is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID).
(hina) rml sb