Selecting a right location for your investment project and setting up a business activity is one of the most important issues in all branches of industry. The availability of skilled and adequate employees, modern infrastructure, an accommodating government and business environment are just some of the characteristics that a certain location should have.
In administrative terms, Croatia is divided in 20 counties and the City of Zagreb. Each county has its own entrepreneurial zones intended for specific business activities, offering various additional local support.
In order to find out more about investment conditions and potential in Croatian counties and to obtain reliable and accurate location specific data, contact us .
In its entire territory, Croatia has over 100 entrepreneurial zones with complete infrastructure offering entrepreneurs an encouraging surrounding for conducting their business activities on the local level.
Equipped with utility services, owned by municipalities or towns, having clear ownership and excellent logistic and traffic connections (quick access to motorways, close vicinity to river/sea ports and railways), zone users are offered some additional support by local communities such as relief from utility tax, lower payments for municipal services for zone users, lower land prices, etc.
For more information on entrepreneurial zones, contact us, or visit Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development – Business Zone data base.
Situated in the eastern part of Central Croatia between rivers Sava on the south and Drava on the north and close to Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia and rich with forest, sources of gas, silica sand, oil, clay, thermal waters and other natural resources, this county offers many development opportunities, especially for the development of a large number of agricultural crops.
Because of its great agricultural potential, Bjelovar-Bilogora County is the leading Croatian county in the production of milk and dairy products, honey, eggs with a long tradition in meat and confectionary industry. Wood industry is one of the strategic sectors of the county’s economy since it is based on a rich and varied high quality forest fund, mostly consisting of oak and beech.
Besides agriculture, food processing and wood industry, the county’s economy is based on some other manufacturing branches such as metal-processing industry, textile industry and construction materials industry. There is a lot of potential in the development of tourism as well.
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The County is situated in the North East of Croatia in the southern part of the Slavonian plain, with river Sava as a natural border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with the exit to the river Danube making water transport towards Central and South Europe easily accessible and cost-efficient. The capital of the County Slavonski Brod is situated at the intersection of roads and railways that connect eastern part of Europe and the Mediterranean and represent the meeting point of all roads that connect the Central Europe with the southern part of the European continent.
The County’s economy is primarily based on manufacturing industry, trade, agriculture and construction with its most important export markets in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, France, United Kingdom and Italy. Slavonski Brod is a home to Đuro Đaković consortium, one of the most efficient metal industries in the South-East European region.
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Dubrovnik-Neretva County is the southernmost county in the Republic of Croatia whose county seat is Dubrovnik – world famous medieval old town, listed on UNESCO’s world heritage list since 1979. Besides the beautiful island of Korčula, the County boasts in its northern part another island, Mljet, that is a national park, and the Lastovo archipelago – a designated nature park.
The main characteristic of the County’s economy is the predominance of tertiary services with tourism and hospitality industries and maritime shipping as main activities. The county has highly preserved natural resources for agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries. There is a significant agricultural potential in the area of the Neretva River Delta Valley, island of Korčula, Konavle valley and in the Pelješac Peninsula known for the active production of high quality wines.
Tourism is constantly developing as a strategic industry of the County, through investments in new and existing hotels, sports and infrastructure capacities. The potential for high-end tourism has already been identified by international hotel chains present in Dubrovnik such as Hilton, Radisson Blue, Rixos, Adriatic Luxury Hotels, Luksic Group etc.
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The City of Zagreb is the Croatian capital and the largest city in Croatia. It is an administrative, economic, cultural and scientific and political centre of the Republic of Croatia with a rich history dating from the Roman times to present day.
As the capital of the newest EU member state, Zagreb represents an ideal stepping stone for global companies in search for a convenient base for their operations in the European Union. It is situated on several European corridors, connected to the sea by rail and road, with an easy access to international trade routes, and as such Zagreb is an ideal business base for conducting various business activities in the EU and wider.
The leading role of Zagreb’s economy is most pronounced in high value-added activities such as technical, scientific and administrative activities, financial and insurance activities and information and communication technologies. In addition it is an important international trade and business centre, and transports crossroad of Central and Eastern Europe.
Zagreb County
Situated in between the border with Slovenia in the west, Moslavina in the east, and Zagreb in the north and the Kupa river in the south, Zagreb county with its traffic position, economic potential and human resources has become among the most propulsive and fastest growing counties in Croatia in the last five years.
The County encircles Zagreb (the City of Zagreb is a County itself, it is not part of Zagreb County) and it takes up the territory over which all road, railway, air, power, infrastructure, underground and surface corridors in the direction of the west (Slovenia, Italy), north (Austria, Hungary), south (the Adriatic Sea) and east (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro) pass.
With doubled realised profit, almost 70% increase in newly created value in the last five years, the County is marked by a continuous growth according to all indicators of successfulness: from 100% growth of realised profit, 70% growth of value added, over 50% export growth and 65% income growth to 40% growth of the number of companies within the TOP 400 in Croatia.
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Strategic geographic position and good traffic connections between Europe and the Mediterranean, preservation of natural resources, stability of regional politics and the collaboration with numerous regions abroad make Istria an attractive destination for foreign investments.
Istrian economy is very diverse. Beside tourism Istria has a well-developed processing industry, construction industry, trade, sea fishing and fish growing, agriculture and transportation. According to the number of economic subjects and according to financial indicators, the leading activities are processing industry, tourism, ICT and trade.
In the field of industry, the most developed branches are shipbuilding, production of construction material (lime, cement, brick and stone), tobacco products, furniture, electric machines and appliances, parts for the automobile industry, glass, processing metals, plastic, wood and the production of food. In the last couple of years, a lot of effort has been put in revitalisation of agriculture, marking a great improvement in wine and olive growing.
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Located in central Croatia, Karlovac county is the traffic link between continental and coastal Croatia and also the hub of modern highway connecting Central Europe to the Adriatic Sea.
The administrative, economic and cultural centre of the county is the city of Karlovac, located on four rivers – Kupa, Korana, Mrežnica and Dobra, just half an hour motorway from Zagreb to the Adriatic, at the intersection of Rijeka and Senj and Plitvice-Split.
The economic structure of the industry has always been the driving force of technological development and employment, primarily metal and mechanical engineering industries, food and beverages, textile industries, wood processing industry, rubber and plastic products, non-metallic mineral products and other. Because of the transit position of the county, other services, especially trade had their impact on the overall economic development.
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Located in the North-West part of Croatia, Koprivnica- Križevci County is situated on the junction of two corridors: North South from Budapest to Rijeka and West East from Varaždin to Osijek, thus linking the Adriatic Sea with Middle Europe, and Eastern with Western Europe countries.
The County belongs to the Pannonian mega-region with considerable natural gas reserves. The river Drava is the County’s main artery, an enormous hydro potential abounding in natural resources and touristic potentials. The County area is mostly lowland area. On the northern part of the County there is enormous resource of geothermal energy suitable for investments in power plants, agriculture, greenhouses, spa and tourism.
The processing industry dominates the County’s economy where food sector has primary role with internationally recognized food processing company Podravka. The County has also developed pharmaceutical, paper, wood and metal processing industry. The agriculture and livestock farming is also very well developed, connected to the food-processing industry there is strong potential for clusters development.
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Krapina-Zagorje County is located in the North-western part of Croatian territory, in the West bordering with Slovenia, in the North East with Varaždin County, and with Zagreb County in the South West and South East. The County’s location makes it an unavoidable transport route from Western Europe via Slovenia (Maribor) to the country capital City of Zagreb and further towards all main international and national routes leading to South, East and North of Croatia.
Due to County’s abundance in thermal springs and sources of drinking water, the County is widely known and popular destination for health and spa tourism. It is also rich in non-metallic minerals, so there is a significant exploitation and processing of technical stone, sand and brick clay. The County’s economy is based on manufacturing and processing industries with production of glass and glass products, machinery and mechanical appliances, furniture, fibres, clothes and clothing accessories as the leading branches.
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Lika-Senj County is the largest Croatian county, located between Primorje-Gorski kotar County in the North West, Karlovac County in the North, Zadar County in the South and South East and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the East.
The County is mostly mountainous with a small coastal area between Senj and Karlobag, and the North-western part of the Island of Pag. Since this region boasts several national parks (Plitvice Lakes, Northern Velebit and Paklenica) and nature parks, as well as forest and water resources, both its mainland and island are important tourist areas.
Lika – Senj County is focused on further development in tourism, agriculture and wood industry.
The structure of County’s companies is characterized by SME’s mostly from trade, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality, transport services and construction.
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Međimurje County is located at the very North of the Republic of Croatia being the most connected county with the Middle Europe bordering with the Republic of Slovenia on the West and Republic of Hungary on the East. It boasts well established infrastructure network, not only of railroads and motorways but also communal infrastructure.
The economy of Međimurje is a dynamic and fast-growing one, based on a long tradition of entrepreneurship and craftsmanship with highly developed food and wood processing industry, food production, production of textiles, footwear and plastics. The prevalent industry is trade followed by manufacturing and construction.
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Exceptionally favourable geographic position on the River Drava and alongside the river Danube, one of the most important European waterways, then natural resources based upon the structure of soil and a climate suitable for agricultural production, thermal waters, preserved environment and the unique Kopački Rit area are just a part of favourable conditions offered by the Osijek-Baranja County.
It is situated in the North East of the Republic of Croatia, and its territory occupies the area around the lower course of the river Drava prior to its confluence into the Danube. There are two airports in the vicinity of County’ capital Osijek (Osijek and Klisa) as well as the European V/c traffic corridor passing through the County connecting the North of Europe (the Baltic) with its South (the Adriatic Sea).
The most important economic activities are agriculture and a modern, high-tech food processing industry (organic agriculture, beverage and food production,), followed by the production of cellulose, paper and cardboard; chemical production, wood processing and textile industry.
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Although located in the North East Croatia, in the region of Slavonija, it is not a typical Slavonian „plain“ – on a relatively small area, there are plains with arable land, mountains and hills with known vineyards and peaks covered mostly with forests.
Half of the County’s surface is agricultural area (43.13% is considered cultivated agricultural area) and the other half is covered in woods. Due to its climate and soil conditions, growing of various crops and cattle is possible in the County. All of these have made Požega-Slavonia County known for its long tradition in food processing industry and favourable for the production and processing of agricultural products. Alongside the agricultural tradition, the county has always been known and had a long tradition in exploitation of natural resources, especially in excavation and processing of technical building stone.
Therefore, the most important economy sectors in the County have always been manufacturing industry, trade, and agriculture.
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Situated in the Western part of Croatia – between Slovenia in the North and the Adriatic in the South, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has a very convenient geostrategic position connecting either by road, air, sea or rail Central and Eastern Europe via the Danube and Adriatic areas.
The capital of the County is the city of Rijeka, which is also the largest Croatian seaport of international importance shortening maritime route between the Far East and Europe up to several days compared to the distance of Northern European ports. Some 20 km away from the city of Rijeka, on the Island of Krk, connected with the mainland by the bridge of Krk, there is an international airport – Rijeka Airport. In addition to this, there are several airports within a 200 km radius (Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Zagreb, Split, Trst, Venecija, and Ljubljana).
Primorje-Gorski kotar County is among the most developed counties of the Republic of Croatia with trade, manufacturing industry, transport and storage as most important sectors. The County is also especially attractive for nautical tourism.
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Located in the Central coastal area of Croatia, Šibenki – Knin county is a county with an abundant cultural heritage, attractive both for visitors and for businesses.
The beneficial Mediterranean climate, a stunning, extremely indented coastline, a multitude of cultural and historic monuments (UNESCO), numerous natural sights (two national parks and two nature parks) and a good quality of life have all made this County a popular tourist destination. Apart from that, its natural potential (an abundance of drinking water, a well-preserved farming land, mining resources, innumerate islands, the wind and the sea) as well as traditionally strong aluminium industry, offer numerous business possibilities.
The economy of the Šibenik-Knin county is primarily focused on trade, tourism, construction and the manufacturing industry. In addition to the aluminium industry, there are shipbuilding and construction material industry. Tourism is immensely important for attracting investments and overall GDP growth of the region. Lately, the County has witnessed investments in agriculture, especially in the vinery and olive oil production.
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Sisak-Moslavina County is situated in the Southern part of Central Croatia, with its administrative centre Sisak located 50 km from the City of Zagreb, 35 km from the Zagreb Airport and 25 km from the nearest motorway.
The natural resources of the County are numerous deposits of oil and natural gas, fertile farmland and forests, water resources with the navigable rivers Sava and Kupa with more unpolluted tributaries, natural reserves of Lonjsko polje and Mokro polje, vineyard and fruit complexes, but also clay, stone and ore sites, as well as thermal springs of iodine water and a great abundance of flora and fauna in the entire area.
Sisak-Moslavina County is an industrial Croatian region, with dominant position of oil, petrochemical and metal industries, but with a long tradition in the agriculture and food sector and the production of fruit, especially apples and plums. The main economic activities in the county are industry, with a particular focus on energy, petrochemicals, chemical industry, metallurgy and metal processing industry, along with agriculture, forestry, trade and catering, construction and transport.
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Situated in the Central part of the East Adriatic coast, Split-Dalmatia county includes not only the land area and the inland part of Dalmatinska zagora, but the islands of Brač, Hvar, Vis, Šolta and Drvenik as well. The county borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina on the North, Dubrovnik-Neretva County on the East and on the south it spreads all the way to the Croatian sea territorial border.
Split-Dalmatia County has an excellent traffic connection not only with the rest of Croatia, but with all major EU capital cities as well. The county is connected by modern highway Zagreb-Zadar-Split-Dubrovnik (A1) as well as rail (so called „Lika“ railway line). Besides being the capital of the county, the city of Split is also an important traffic crossroad, and the largest ferry port on the Croatian Adriatic coast. The international airport Split is the second largest in proportion and in traffic importance in Croatia, while the airport in Brač was built for smaller planes and is used mainly for tourism purposes. Geographical position regarding the natural crossroads, Mediterranean climate, well intended coastline, power potential rivers and lakes and the rich karstic fields are a natural base for the development of maritime, shipbuilding, fishery, trade, agricultural production specific for the Mediterranean climate and especially tourism.
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The County is situated in the North West part of Croatia, bordering with the Republic of Slovenia and with the river Drava flowing along the Northern border of the county. Due to geographical location Varaždin County has a great traffic importance because it takes over the shortest and most convenient natural link between the Middle Danube and the Northern Adriatic , and it is very conveniently located with regard to transport links within the Croatia. The road and rail routes that pass through the county are of great importance for infrastructure system and the Croatian involvement in the European transport system.
Varaždin County is an important Croatian region with intense industrial and commercial activities and a strong financial sector. It is the second ranked county among a few Croatian counties that have a higher export than import. The economy of Varaždin County is focused on the manufacturing industry, particularly on the following well developed industrial branches: dairy products processing, beverage production, meat packaging industry, production for the automotive industry, leather footwear and accessories industry, production of women and men clothing, fabric and other textile products, metal manufacturing industry, production of equipment for the renewable energy sector, manufacturing of high quality wooden furniture and other lumber products.
The County’s future development is based on innovations and new products, technology transfer, high quality products, and environmental protection.
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Virovitica-Podravina County is located in Northeastern Croatia and covers the area of Slavonia and Podravina. The County’s northern border is the River Drava which also makes a natural border with Hungary in the largest part of its hundred kilometre long course.
Due to its favourable geographical location, climate and fertile ground the County has very favourable conditions for the development of a large number of agricultural crops, especially cereals, industrial crops (sugar beet, tobacco) and aromatic herbs, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and grapes. In addition to land, forests are the most important natural wealth of the County being the basis for the strong development of the wood industry. Water is also one of the most important natural resources and there are sites predominantly of non-metallic mineral raw materials such as: sand, gravel, stone, clay, and other minerals such as graphite, feldspar and quartzite. The county has also a high energy potential in biomass and geothermal energy.
Among industry branches the strongest ones are food processing industry (sugar, canned and pickled vegetables, flour-mill products), wood and furniture manufacturing industry (furniture, flooring, sawn timber), manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (construction materials – ceramic tiles, bricks) and fabricated metal products, tobacco products industry.
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Vukovar – Srijem County is situated in the Eastern part of Croatia, between the rivers Danube and Sava, bordering with Serbia in the East and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the South. The County is located at the intersection of road, railway and water routes (including Port of Vukovar on the river Danube) of national and international importance with three Pan-European international corridors passing through its territory (VII, X, Vc), thus making its natural position ideal for transport and logistics centres. In addition, important energy corridors cross the County ensuring the distribution, supply and efficient use of electric energy, gas and thermal energy.
Since the local countryside is mainly flat and since the County’s 62% of total land area is extremely fertile soil, the primary sector has higher share in the county’s economy compared to Croatian average. Grain production is taking the most significant part followed by other cultures such as oilseeds, sugar beets, fodder plants, tobacco etc. The area is also well known for its extremely large areas covered in forests and high quality kind of wood (especially oak). Manufacturing industry has great significance, accounting for 31% of total turnovers of the County with long tradition especially in food processing and wine industry, textile and leather industry, wood industry.
Vukovar-Srijem County has huge potential in food production and wood processing industry and its geographic location offers excellent opportunities in logistics and all types of passengers and goods transportation.
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Zadar County is situated in the very center of the Croatian Adriatic coast, encompassing the regions of North Dalmatia and Southeast Lika. Besides the land area, the county of Zadar includes more than 200 islands with the National park Paklenica also located within the County. There is a 24 km long state border with Bosnia and Herzegovina on the East, and 83.43 km long international sea border with Italy towards the West. Because of its excellent natural position the Zadar County is easily accessible by sea, land and air, and as such it represents an important traffic connection with not only regional centers of Northern and Southern parts of Croatia, but with European centers as well.
The most important sectors in the County are trade, manufacturing industry – food industry, metal production, production of vessels, textile industry; transport and storage, fishery and agriculture, construction, tourism
Development of tourism is closely connected with agriculture. Fertile land, the Mediterranean climate, rich water resources and environmentally safe conditions are County’s advantage and prerequisites for the further development of agriculture, fishery and mariculture. Activity of fish processing is growing, not only in the coastal area, but in the Zadar hinterland – Benkovac and Gračac. Production of metal and metal products has had a long tradition in the Zadar County, and in the past several years industry of automotive components has been successful.
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