September 8, 2020 - Fresh from his agreement with Prime Minister Plenkovic to introduce a digital nomad visa for Croatia, Dutch entrepreneur Jan de Jong and business partner Jerko Trogrlic turn their attention to agriculture and plans to Make Croatia Grow Again.
One of the best days of 2020 so far for me was on May 27, as I left Hvar early in the morning on the 05:30 and proceeded to Zagreb via three stops en route, visiting three of the most positive people I know in this country, Tanja Polegubic in Vrana, Feliks Lukas in Kasela, and first up, Jan de Jong in Solin. You can read more in What Happens in Croatia When Mindset Goes from Default Negative to Opportunity Positive?
Coffee on Jan's terrace overlooking the Adriatic with a truly magnificent view was a great way to start the day. He had two things on his mind. The first was the topic that we had agreed to discuss - digital nomad tourism. And the second was an idea he had regarding agriculture.
The digital nomad story took on a life of its own in the weeks after that very pleasant morning coffee. Six weeks later, Jan wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister asking him to introduce a digital nomad visa for Croatia. Just 44 days after that, PM Plenkovic tweeted a photo of his meeting in Jan, in which he committed to introducing the digital nomad visa, and it was introduced as an amendment to the Foreigners Act in Parliament the following day.
But the agricultural plan that Jan shared with me, together with his partner, award-winning PR guru Jerko Trgolic from Split, was equally inspiring.
Rather than say more than I should, I will refer you to Jan's latest LinkedIn post, where he has announced his intention to Make Croatia Grow Again...
Yes! We are going to invest big in Croatia. Not in apartments, not in villa's, not in hotels - but in high-tech agriculture
For so many years it has been hurting my eyes seeing how Croatia ?? - a country that used to feed an entire region - is today importing more food than that it is exporting.
Together with my business partner, Jerko Trogrlić, I am proud to share that today we have founded our company - CROP Hrvatska.
CROP Hrvatska will bring high-tech agriculture technology from the Netherlands to Croatia with one simple goal - to make Croatia grow again!
The first investment planned shall be a 5 hectare (50.000 m2) high-tech greenhouse for growing tomatoes - creating 70 new job opportunities in Croatia.
Follow CROP Hrvatska on #LinkedIn to stay up to date on any further developments.
CROP Hrvatska - Making Croatia grow again
Do you believe just like me that Croatia has the potential to help feed Europe?
P.s. How do you like our shoes?
#LivingTheCroatianDream #Entrepreneurship #Croatia #MakingCroatiaGrowAgain #Agriculture
I will be asking Jan a little more about CROP and his plans to Make Croatia Grow Again at the Poduzetnicki Mindset (Entrepreneurial Mindset) 2020 conference on Thursday, September 10, which will be streamed online. If interested, check out the exciting programme.
