Benchmarking Study Trip Organised for the 8 Regional Development Agencies

ZAGREB, 7 May 2012 – Representatives of the 8 Croatian regional development agencies (RDAs) left today for a five-day study trip which will involve visits to the development agencies of Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, successful in attracting Foreign direct investments (FDI).

The study trip was organised in the framework of the Benchmarking Component implemented within the IPA Project “Development of Investment Climate“ and will see the participation of 8  representatives of the counties’ development agencies, 3 consultants engaged on the Project and a representative from HAMAG INVEST.

The Croatian delegation will visit 3 national agencies during this trip: JAPTI (Ljubljana, Slovenia), SARIO (Bratislava, Slovakia) and HITA (Budapest, Hungary), and 2 regional development agencies: Entvicklungsagentur Kaernten GmbH (Klagenfurt, Austria) and ISSRA (Trnava, Slovakia).

The selected agencies form the neighbouring countries are considered as best practice examples in FDI attraction and in providing adequate support to the existing investors with the goal of keeping them in the country. The primary goal of the above mentioned agencies is to increase the competitiveness and to promote their economy but also to provide support to their own businesses in their efforts in penetrating into foreign markets. One-stop-service centre, aftercare and advocacy are the core services provided by these agencies.

Benchmarking process helps the regional development agencies in Croatia to define the elements crucial in successful attraction of foreign and local investments. Regional Benchmarking programme forms part of the Advanced ICPR programme and it is focused on the comparison of competitive advantages between the Croatian counties and with the regions of the neighbouring countries.  

About ICPR3 programme:
EU project “Development of Investment Climate“ is implemented using the IPA III C pre-accession assistance and is the continuation of two previous stages of the Investment Certification Programme for Regions (ICPR). The project is designed to provide strategic development and training to 20 Croatian counties, to help them be adequately prepared for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts is the beneficiary of the Project and is responsible for its implementation. The Project is one of the most valuable services projects financed through EU funds currently implemented in Croatia. Following the extension granted in September this year, the total value of the project amounts to €3.44 million. The project will be implemented over a period of 32 months, and it began on 1 February 2010.