The guest of the round table was Dražen Pros, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship and Craft, and leading panelists were Darko Liović, president of the Board of the Croatian Agency for SMEs and Investments ( HAMAG INVEST), Petar Lovrić, president of the SME Association in the Croatian Employers’ Association and Milan Deskar-Škrbić, assistant in the company Arhivanalitika d.o.o.

The participants gathered around the round table agreed that micro-credits are the key elements for the development of the SMEa and micro companies, and therefore for the development of the overall economy. SMEs and micro companies make 98.5 % of all economic operators in Croatia, therefore granting a loan of 20,000 kn can mean a new job opening, or, not permitting a loan, can mean closing-down of a micro company or a craft. Moreover, it is necessary to develop new sources of financing out of banking sector, like venture capital financing or business angels’ networks.