In accordance with trends in global markets, and with the access and export strategies of most of the larger wood processing companies in Europe, many Croatian companies are trying to export to Asian markets, as the crisis has had less effect on Asia and North America. It is anticipated that these markets, along with part

The main priority of the Cluster is stronger sectoral lobbying for better visibility of the sector at national and EU level and for inclusion in the EU’s development programs. In the coming period, activities of the Cluster will be directed towards the functioning of the Croatian wood processing industry in the EU environment, strengthening the

Andreja Pirc Barcic PhD, Faculty of Forestry, Univ. of Zagreb Despite the fact that the Croatian wood industry has been going through a turbulent, unpredictable and very demanding period of crisis and recession in the last few years, the situation does not look bad. The Croatian wood industry has a good future, if everyone concerned

Developments in the price of wood and wood products at the end of last year and early this year in world markets reflect the dynamic changes from previous years, but this will not inhibit the Cluster and the Association of Pellet Producers from proposing new legislation. The biggest job ahead of us is lobbying about

This year’s important activities of the Cluster will be focused on the better promotion of wood as construction material by starting off promotional projects of a national and international character. One of the best partners is certainly Austrian ProHolz with whom the Cluster has already successfully cooperated in previous years. In Zagreb in April the

In recent years, most of the promotional activities concerning the use of wood in construction have been conducted in the northern parts of Europe, while the south has been partly neglected. If we take into account the historical facts, we can conclude that wood is a biblical material that was largely used in ancient Greece

Now that this sector has been fi nally included in the Industrial Strategy of the Republic of Croatia, wood processing and furniture production actively look for possibilities to draw on EU funds and to ensure the international competitiveness of the sector and its long-term growth. Sector companies, members of both the Croatian Wood Cluster and the Competitiveness Cluster, are vigorously

The New Forestry Strategy and other industry policies encourage member states to develop measures aiming to make better use of the potential of employment which this sector has, to improve the skills of workers in the sector and to improve working conditions. One of the most important elements of sectoral education and communication with the public is highlighting the need for

The Cluster supports the idea that the Croatian Rural Development Program should contain as many measures as possible associated with forestry, wood processing and energy from wood, and to promote those measures among sector companies in order to ensure better utilization of available funds from European sources. Forestry and the wood processing sector are of crucial importance for the development