On Monday, April 3, 2023, in the Craft House in Poreč, a presentation was held in the organization of the Istrian Development Agency as part of the CLASS 4.0 project on the topic of development and innovative projects of Istrian businessmen, as well as upcoming tenders for the allocation of grants for the investment of Istrian companies in research, development and innovation in business.
At the beginning, the gathered participants were greeted by the director of the Istrian Development Agency, Ph.D. Boris Sabatti, who pointed out that the IDA in the CLASS 4.0 project capitalizes on previously implemented projects within the Interreg V-A Italy - Croatia 2014 - 2020 program, with special emphasis on those in the area of blue economy development; INVESTINFISH and BEAT.
Among the more important results, we can highlight the support provided in the development of innovative investments by eight Istrian entrepreneurs in fisheries and aquaculture, the purchase of kitchen equipment for Pula kindergartens with the aim of promoting a healthier diet and greater use of fish in children's diets, as well as investments in innovative research into the undersea of the Pula harbor for the needs of future development projects of port activity. With the CLASS 4.0 project, IDA successfully continues the story of promoting investments in innovations in the area of the blue economy in such a way as to present examples of good practice and inform entrepreneurs about the possibilities of investing in innovative technologies and with the help of funds available in the program period 2021-2027, which will contribute diversification of the development of the Istrian economy - emphasized Sabatti.
At the event, Kristian Korunić, an expert on EU funds and director of the company MONEO savjetovanje, presented an analysis of the utilization of EU funds in the last program period from 2014 to 2020, with a special emphasis on support in the field of research, development and innovation. He analyzed the use of grants in the County of Istria and highlighted interesting tenders for non-refundable grants for entrepreneurs' investments in research, development and innovation, which are expected to be announced in 2023. Tenders planned as part of the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion 2021-2027 have been announced; Innovation voucher that will be released in May 2023, and Support for the inclusion of SMEs in value chains in October of this year.
Furthermore, the tenders that entrepreneurs expect as part of the Integrated Territorial Program 2021-2027 have been announced; Strengthening of strategic partnerships for innovation in the process of industrial transition and Innovation clusters in the process of industrial transition that will be released in June, and Support for start-up companies and SMEs in the process of industrial transition and the Program for investment in production and business innovations without negative impact on the environment and health people in December 2023.
After the introductory part, a promotional video was shown on the topic of innovative projects of Istrian entrepreneurs from the area of the blue economy, which was made during last week's visits to these companies - Marservis d.o.o. from Kaštelir, S.I.C. d.o.o. from Višnjan and Tehnomont brodogradilište d.o.o. from Pula.
The total value of the CLASS 4.0 - CLuster for dAta-driven Solutions in the Sea economy project is EUR 599,083.60, of which EUR 509,221.05 is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.
