February 11, 2021 – The total untapped export potential of Croatian mechanical engineering machinery and equipment production is a staggering $399.8 million, according to an analysis by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce

The total untapped export potential of Croatian mechanical engineering machinery and equipment is 399.8 million US dollars, according to an analysis by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) as part of the Fit4Globe project.

According to this analysis, the Croatian mechanical engineering groups with the greatest export potential are parts for gas turbines and turbojet engines, parts of machines and devices for lifting, moving and construction works, parts for air pumps, compressors and fans, agricultural machines for use in harvesting, valves for temperature control and parts for internal combustion devices.

The analysis dealt in detail with 12 Croatian mechanical engineering products. 10 were chosen specifically because they hold unused export potential and two were chosen for their importance to domestic Croatian mechanical engineering. The untapped export potential of these Croatian mechanical engineering products exists in 34 countries, in the total amount of 127.8 million US dollars. The realization of the full potential of these Croatian mechanical engineering exports would increase by more than one-third, or 37.2 percent.

634 companies operate in the Croatian mechanical engineering sector of machinery and equipment manufacture. As much as 94 percent of them are small and medium-sized enterprises. They employ a total of 11,400 workers, generate HRK 7.7 billion in revenue (4.4 percent of the gross value of the manufacturing industry), and their annual profit is HRK 337 million. With a total of $1.22 billion in exports, they make up 6.6 of Croatia's total foreign trade.

Currently, the leading export markets for Croatian machinery are Germany with a share of 21.5 percent, Slovenia with a share of 12.5 percent and Austria with a share of 8.5 percent.

In response to the findings, the President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Luka Burilović, pointed out that by exploiting the full potential, the total export of Croatian mechanical engineering machines and devices would increase by almost a third (32.6 percent) from the current 1.22 billion US dollars, which is 6.6 percent of total exports.

"The markets most likely to increase exports are Germany, Italy, the United States and Hungary," said Burilovic, while the president of the Metalworking Industry Association Zeljko Mazuran said that the biggest challenge for the industry is the need for greater and faster investment in plant modernization. He attributed a lack of investment to an unfavourable monetary policy, an unrealistic exchange rate of the kuna against world currencies and the low level of technological processes, industry retardation being compounded by a lack of educated metalworking workers.

According to financial reports submitted for last year, the five largest exporters of Croatian mechanical engineering parts and machines generated approximately 40 percent of total revenues in the foreign market within their sector. The top 10 largest exporters accounted for almost 50 percent.

The world market in the production of machines and devices is dominated by the USA, which in 2019, along with China and Germany, was also the leading global exporter. These three countries are also the largest importers of machinery and equipment. In the European Union, along with Germany, the largest producer is Italy.

Croatia has a lot of talent which spans numerous fields. From the world of sport to science, technology, medicine and engineering, this little country has a lot to offer. One large American multinational company has seen the opportunities Croatia can offer with its many talented students, and is furthering its collaboration with various educational institutions in the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 27th of June, 2019, GlobalLogic, a multinational company with a strong international presence, has been working on the strengthening of its overall collaboration with faculties in order to, within five years, access innovative and talent personnel for employment in software development in the automotive, entertainment and health sectors.

The US-based multinational IT company GlobalLogic, specialised in product engineering, is strengthening its investments in IT education programs in Central and Eastern Europe, which also implies the Republic of Croatia, where it collaborates with four faculties (FER, FSB and PMF in Zagreb, and FERIT in Osijek), with the aim of enabling professionals to work on GlobalLogic's projects for the various different industries to which it caters.

In the Republic of Croatia, there are now a hundred such people working in Zagreb, and owing to the training programs provided by the company in the coming five years, that number should be three times higher, while in the thirteen centres belonging to GlobalLogic for software engineering in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, there are now more than 6,000 engineers.

"We work on a lot of projects using state-of-the-art technology and we need the best people available on the market. We employ software development engineers who have unique know-how and are excellent mentors," says Vladimir Kosanović, GlobalLogic Croatia's director.

The American company will, in line with their aforementioned desire for more engineers in Croatia, conduct courses for beginners as well as for professional developers, mentors, and more. The aim of which is to support and digitise the societies of the above-mentioned countries by supporting young talent and investing in their development, as well as engaging in the extensive exploration of new information technologies.

The educational strategy of the company is also focused on business growth in Europe as well as strengthening their engineering segment and their overall market position.

The company's concern for the academic community in Croatia, where many of its future employees are, has been confirmed by various projects such as the FERIT's Masters study program, called Autoc, which will begin in Osijek this year, and the supporting student competition called Elektroboj, as well as the project which involves students from various universities in Croatia in the development of the first Croatian electric racing car.

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