Internationalisation is a necessity for the Croatian economy and small and medium-sized enterprises especially lag behind, a round table organised by the CEPOR centre for SME development heard on Tuesday.

The round table was held in cooperation with the Osijek School of Economics, with financial support from the Raiffeisenbank Austria.

SMEs account for over 99% of Croatian companies, 73% of employment and 60% of total revenues, but only 40% of exports, CEPOR director Mirela Alpeza said, adding that SMEs in particular lag behind in internationalising their business.

The fact that Croatian imports exceed exports is a challenge but also a growth opportunity for many companies, she said.

In 2018, Croatia’s exports totalled HRK 107.7 billion and imports HRK 175.5 billion, up 2.9% and 7.4% on the year, respectively.

Petar Simic, director of Primacosped, which is engaged in international transport, shipping and logistics, said internationalisation had become a necessity for his company. He highlighted the absorption of EU funds through an SME internationalisation programme.

“Entrepreneurs should investigate more what is on offer through various support programmes, and institutions, together with the Economy Ministry, should do more to improve the programmes,” he said, adding that the government had begun to pay more attention to recommendations by entrepreneurs.