Business

September 4, 2020 - Next week sees the second edition of the Poduzetnik Mindset (Entrepreneurial Mindset) conference, a wave of positivity for Croatia 2.0. TCN will be interviewing a few entrepreneur speakers of the event. First up, Dalmatian Dutchman Jan de Jong.  Can a positive entrepreneurial mindset make a positive difference in Croatia? The growing eco-system of Croatian entrepreneurs certainly believes so. One of the most positive and inspiring conferences of 2019 was the inaugural Poduzetnik Mindset conference in Zagreb (read the TCN report on last year's event - Croatia 2.0 Cloaked in Positivity at Entrepreneurial Mindset Conference in Zagreb). This…

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Josip Aladrovic said on Thursday that the plan is for jobkeeping measures, which will continue for the next four months, to be primarily financed from European funds. "About HRK 800 million is foreseen for the measures we adopted today for the next four months without shortening the working week. Our forecast indicates that that is about HRK 200 million a month, which is enough for 60 to 70,000 workers. We will see what the future will bring in the next four months. The main source of…

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - The European Commission has approved slightly more than HRK 2.3 million for Gradska Plinara Zagreb (GPZ), Croatia's biggest gas distributor, for a project designed to improve cyber security for safe and reliable gas distribution, GPZ said on Thursday. GPZ has been given €316,463 for a project aimed at upgrading information security as part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Telekom), a fund intended for investment in the EU's digital infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, energy and digital technology. Under the agreement with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), which signed it on behalf of the European Commission, 75%…

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - Croatian National Bank (HNB) governor Boris Vujcic said on Thursday that although the coronavirus pandemic strongly affected Croatia's economy and public finances, the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2023 was feasible. Speaking at a conference on the Croatian monetary market in Opatija, Vujcic estimated that GDP would drop 10% this year and increase 6% next year. "We expect the economy to recover quickly," he said, adding that it was important to meet the remaining Maastricht criteria and carry out the reforms Croatia committed to in the application to enter European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM…

September 3, 2020 - The EPIC Webinars continue, with CISCO's Ivan Duggan next up, talking about innovations in the Patient Experience.  Patient Experience is a term that has been running through the healthcare industry for some time. When you ask people what exactly this means, you will get all sorts of answers that will mostly move in the direction of helping and making it easier for the client/patient. By its definition it means this - As an integral component of health care quality, patient experience includes several aspects of health care delivery that patients value highly when they seek and…

September 3, 2020 - What can Americans and Croatians learn from each other in business? A dual citizen of both countries offers her thoughts.   There’s no doubt America is a dominant player on the global business stage, but there are norms in Croatia that I believe outshine American practices when it comes to work. Both countries could learn from each other. Here’s my view how. 1. Outlook and perspective. Americans have this nailed and I think speaks to much of why US companies tend to be so overwhelmingly successful on a global scale. Fake it till you make it, nothing…

September the 3rd, 2020 - Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has thrown a spanner in the works for many a previously planned investment, not everything has been forced to grind to a halt or be put back on the shelf and await better economic circumstances. New Croatian geothermal projects are on the horizon for Slavonia, Podravina and Medjimurje as numerous bids arrive. As Novac writes on the 2nd of September, 2020, as many as nine bids were received for the exploration of geothermal waters in four exploration areas in the areas of ​​Slavonia, Podravina and Medjimurje, which were submitted…

ZAGREB, Sept 2, 2020 - Croatia once again ranks third in the region for the quality of customer service, behind Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, the "GUEST-Regional Services" survey showed on Wednesday. This is the twelfth survey testing the quality of customer service in the region, conducted between 15 June and 15 July by the Heraklea mystery shoppers agency in cooperation with similar agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. "Mystery shoppers" visited a total of 800 retail outlets in those countries - car dealerships, banks, petrol stations, small stores, supermarkets, telecommunication retail outlets, tourism-hospitality venues, and other…

As Novac writes on the 1st of September, 2020, with the aim of improving the user experience and providing an even better service, Hrvatski Telekom/Croatian Telecom has opened another new multimedia store on Ibler's Square (Iblerov trg) in Zagreb. Croatian Telecom has thus converted as many as 26 traditional T-Centres into modern stores according to the highest standards. The T-Centre on Ibler's Square is divided into several functional units and is fully adapted to all users of Croatian Telecom's services. With all of the standard features, members of Generation Z and all those who feel that way can get acquainted…

ZAGREB, September 1, 2020 - In July 2020, unemployment slightly increased in the European Union and the euro area, while it slightly decreased in Croatia, according to a report by Eurostat on Tuesday. The seasonally-adjusted EU unemployment rate increased to 7.2% in July 2020, up from 7.1% in June 2020 and 6.7% in July 2019. The euro area unemployment rate was up by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9%, an increase also compared to 7.5% in July last year. A total of 15.184 million persons were unemployed in July in the EU, including 12.893 million persons in the euro area. Compared to…