Results of Market Survey: New business opportunities after Croatian accession to EU, July 1, 2013

CBBS was conducting in June/July 2013 Market Survey on business opportunities in Croatia and in SE European region after Croatian accession to the European Union, July 1, 2013.

The Survey was launched on portal SurveyMonkey, that proved to be an excellent marketing online tool to get quick feedback from the market.

The main goal of the Market Survey was to get the feedback from the entrepreneurs and business community about the Croatian accession to European Union and to identify:

business opportunities in Croatia and SE Europe, especially in strategic partnerships and joint projects with international partners,
awareness of EU funding opportunities for the period 2014 – 2020 open for Croatian and regional players,
interest of business community in preparation/implementation of EU projects using present and future EU funding.

We invited some 400 business professionals from Croatia and abroad to take part in our Survey, finally, 92 representatives of the business community from Croatia and other European countries (entrepreneurs, representatives of business and governmental institutions and chambers, agencies, foreign offices in Croatia), took part in the Survey and helped us in gathering information and answers about the expectations and perception of the business community about the possible growth, new partnerships and EU funding opportunities after Croatian accession to European Union.

Market survey “New business opportunities after Croatian accession to EU, July 1, 2013” has brought following results and conclusions:

Accession of Croatia to European Union is bringing new business opportunities for the business community in Croatia and SE Europe. More than 80 % of participants in the Survey is positive that accession of Croatia will create new business opportunities and only 4,44% is not expecting positive influence of Croatian accession for the future business results.
The growth of the interest of EU companies in the co operation with Croatia and neighboring countries after Croatian accession, July 1, 2013 is expected in:
- trade/selling their goods and services (63,74 %),
- in investments in Croatian and regional companies (52,75 %),
- strategic partnerships, i.e. in joint venture projects (36,26 %) and in acquisitions (31,87 %).
Croatian and regional companies are interested in EU funding opportunities and in the investments/strategic partnerships with EU partners.

Some 65,56 % of the participants in the Survey are interested in EU funding opportunities, some 15,56 % still have no experience in EU funding however only 8,89 % is not interested in EU funding.
Business community is planning to use EU funding for the development of new infrastructure and for the implementation of new technologies and skills with the aim to increase its competitiveness and better access to the EU/international market.
The biggest challenges for the business community in using of EU funds are human resources, co financing of the projects, lack of the information and knowledge for the preparation and the development of EU funding projects.
For the development and preparation of new projects supported by EU funding business community will require additional knowledge, skills and services to be successful in using EU funding oportunities.
Business community is highly interested in EU training, networking and matchmaking activities with the aim to increase the information, skills and the knowledge about EU funding and to meet new international business partners.