Programmes of encouraging entrepreneurship and foreign investments

Croatian counties were established in 1994. That very year, Istria started with the creation and implementation of the programme of co-financing the supply of planting material in collaboration with towns and users themselves, and 1995 witnessed the establishment of the Fund for the development of agriculture and agritourism in Istria. 

In 1997, the Region signed agreements on collaboration with several business banks, co-financing a part of interests helping the creation of more favourable crediting conditions. Namely, with Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. Zagreb it signed the agreement on crediting agritourism in August, in September and November it signed agreements on crediting small and medium enterprise with Istarska banka d.d. Pula and Istarska kreditna banka Umag d.d. 

In the following years, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, through authorized ministries, launched the programmes encouraging the development of entrepreneurship in collaboration with counties and business banks. A very short period witnessed the formation of new motivating credit lines. The realization of the programme also included some units of local self-government whose activities needed to be coordinated, so that the performance and the monitoring of all programmes have become a very demanding task for the organizational establishment of the Istrian region. 

Public contract of 14 December 1999, signed by the Istrian region and the nine towns in the Istrian Region, marked the foundation of the Istrian Development Agency- IDA d.o.o. based in Pula. IDA d.o.o. was founded with the objective of being the promoter, leader, and coordinator of development possibilities in the area of the Istrian Region, and it started its work on 01 June 2000.  

The most important programmes in the domain of work of the Administrative department for economy, carried out by the Istrian Region through IDA d.o.o. are the following:

• Crediting crafts, small and medium enterprise
• Programme of developing business zones and incubators
• "One-stop-shop" services for the investors
• Info point
• Entrepreneurs' education

To find out more about the described and other programmes: www.ida.hr