Why Invest in Rijeka
Rijeka 2030 – smart, open and resilient city
Rijeka has an optimal combination of development factors that make it a good place for investment and business. Today, its transformation from a traditional industrial city into a modern port and transport center, a city of science, innovation and urban tourism is in its final stage. According to the volume and significance of the investments that are currently carried out in it, Rijeka surpasses any other city in Croatia.
Why invest in Rijeka?
Expansion and development of the largest Croatian port and port area becomes a crucial economic potential and a perspective for progress.
The developed municipal infrastructure is in a continuous process of improvement aimed at increasing the quality of life and work.
The city of Rijeka is growing into an urban tourist center with attractive coastline and a top destination for nautical tourism.
The focus on the development and testing of smart city technologies has earned Rijeka the title of ‘Smartest Large City of 2022’ in Croatia.
The supportive entrepreneurial infrastructure is particularly geared towards supporting modern and creative industries as well as novice entrepreneurs.
In 2022, Rijeka was declared the best city in Croatia in terms of accessing funds from EU funds, cumulatively totaling more than 7,140,000.00 EUR over the past four years.
The legacy of Rijeka as the European Capital of Culture 2020: it achieved the highest investments in cultural infrastructure in the history of Croatia.
The transformation of Rijeka into the City of Knowledge is based on the development of modern university capacities and higher education institutions, along with the creation of skilled professionals.
The improvement of healthcare in Rijeka is ensured through the project of constructing a new hospital, the largest capital project in the Croatian healthcare sector.
The favorable geographical location and transportation connectivity, coupled with a moderately warm and humid climate, make Rijeka a desirable place for living and conducting business.
STARTUPBLINK
THE 2nd BEST IN CROATIA
StartupBlink, the most famous global platform for mapping the startup ecosystem and research center, published its Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2023, according to which Rijeka is still the second best city for the development of startups in Croatia, right behind Zagreb, while in the world ranking it advanced by as many as 11 places in compared to 2022. The report places Rijeka in 439th place in the world and 32nd in the region of Eastern Europe, and the constant progress of its position is contributed by registered startups, many of which emerged from the City of Rijeka Startup Incubator, and entrepreneurs from business incubators of Rijeka Development Agency Porin. According to StartupBlink’s analysis, the startup climate in Rijeka has changed somewhat compared to last year, so today it attracts and supports young companies from the fields of energy and environment, marketing and sales, trade and e-commerce to a greater extent. In the period from 2020 till today, Rijeka’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has climbed 22 places on the global scale, which is an excellent result considering the unfavorable economic and development circumstances caused by the epidemic, war events and inflation.
In the StartupBlink global report for 2023, the mayor of the city of Rijeka, Marko Filipović, gave his brief overview:
“The startup ecosystem of Rijeka has been expanding over last 10 years. Through all there years with synergy of our departments, Rijeka Development Agency Porin and the Startup Incubator Rijeka, we are monitoring, supporting and making successful innovative startups of the future thanks to talented people and their creative business ideas. StartupBlink’s report is showing that and this progress is visible globally over the last 3 years also in their global analysis so Rijeka is now in the the TOP 500 cities in the world. We are honored that StartupBlink recognized our success!”
