ANALYSIS OF THE CROATIAN EXPORT CAPABILITY APPLYING THE STRATEGY OF EXPORT EXPANSION

On the base of research results of the international economic strategies and the role of international trade policy in the implementation of the international economic strategies, the hypothesis about the possibility of modelling and applying the strategy of export expansion aiming at faster economic development of the Republic of Croatia is set out. Being a small country, it is important for Croatia to be open considering economy with a dynamic growth of foreign trade of goods and services and it is also an imperative for its sustainable development. The main part of the research addresses the analysis of the Croatian balance of payment and export capability through assignment the Croatian economic position and its export-import performances, as well as stresses the importance of the international trade and tests the effects of globalisation and integration process on the Croatian economy. Finally, some conclusions are drawn. The Croatian export strength is extremely low, while the import dependency is underlined, therefore the field of the Croatian economic relationship with foreign countries is evaluated negative from the economic growth and development aspect. The analysis of the Croatian export capability stated that Croatia had not yet the own model of international economic strategy, therefore that paper defi nes the strategy of export expansion which is based on outward orientation and sharp specialization as well as strong and active including in the international labour divide through contemporary world’s globalization flows and regional integration processes. After theoretical review of the instruments of the trade policy which can be in the function of export acceleration, we proceed with the analysis of optimal instruments of the strategy of export expansion as the base of maximization of the development effects.: increasing of the GDP, decreasing the unemployment, balancing the trade balance (balance of payment), and improving the competitiveness and other development effects.