The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) on Friday called on citizens to join in a new campaign promoting the purchase of Croatian-made products, noting that by buying domestic products, they help protect domestic production and jobs.

“By buying domestic products we ensure the survival of our producers, protect jobs and contribute to keeping quality workforce, creating conditions for new investments and greater competitiveness of the domestic economy,” said HGK Commerce Sector director Sanja Smoljak Katić, calling on citizens to join in the new campaign, launched on Friday.

Citing data from the Zagreb Institute of Economics, the HGK said that if every Croatian was to spend €14 on domestic products per month, it would result in an increase in gross value added of 1.1% annually and an increase of tax revenue of 1%.

With support from both consumers and businesses, in the medium term it is possible to ensure an additional GDP growth of 0.64% and the employment of another 10,600 workers, with an equivalent wage growth. That is an optimistic scenario that happens when domestic consumption and domestic production are encouraged simultaneously, as shown by those data, the HGK said in a statement on its web site.

A survey conducted by the HGK in 2023 shows that half the respondents prefer buying products with HGK quality labels, with 16.7% doing it always and 56.3% mostly, while 17.5% do not pay attention to products and services marked with HGK quality labels.

Speaking of the most important reason for buying Croatian products marked with the HGKВ labels Croatian Quality and Originally Croatian, 65.8% of the respondents said they do so to encourage the development of domestic quality products, 43.4% said they do so because they trust those products and services, while 20.8% believe that products and services marked with those labels are better than the other products and services.