Development of Furniture in Croatia

Development of furniture design, constructions, technologies and knowledge along with the use of innovative materials has advanced in the furniture sector of industrialized countries in recent years so markedly that many professionally and technologically unprepared countries cannot consistently follow this upward trend. Croatia is one of the countries that in the past few years has neither systematically invested into nor developed this strategically important sector, which resulted in its stagnation. With the aim to revitalize and develop the entire furniture industry, local experts are facing a difficult task of finding out a model and generating the strategic operative plan for development of this industrial branch. At the same time they must focus on designing and distribution of a well-known local finished brand that incorporates the incentives to create the lasting, nationally and internationally distinguishable values. In order to identify development strategy of the national furniture industry, the Croatian Government has, at the recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, passed the National Forestry Policy and Strategy (Official Gazette No. 120/03) and Development Strategy of Wood and Paper Processing (Official Gazette No. 114/04). They both deal with market research and development of high-quality finished products of a well-known domestic design, and with the promotion and use of domestic timber and wood resources in local produces to be ranked globally among highly priced products. Sustainable development and competitiveness of furniture production require investments into development and adoption of innovativeness, research, new products development, new technological solutions, investment-encouraging environment, entrepreneurship as well as rapid programmatic and market reforms, unimaginable without financial and expert support. Operationalization of these stretegic principles brings a long-lasting success. It implies permanent accomplishment of new production programmes, investments into state-of-the-art technology, employment of already trained designers and technologists, rational exploitation of wood resources and economical benefits for individuals and products, and also creates identity of the Croatian furniture sector.