Business

May 30, 2019 - If Croatia had a golf course for every golf tourism conference... The Croatian non-golf story takes another twist. This is not an article about golf.  It is an article which highlights how Croatia works. Or rather does not work.  Most of the information in it is not new, but it serves as a benchmark for how tourism strategy is progressing in Croatia.  Here is a snapshot of the official tourism strategy in Croatia, using slides from my recent conference presentation Investing in Croatia v Montenegro: A 15-year Foreign Resident View. Several years ago, the Ministry of…

ZAGREB, May 30, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday attended a meeting of the Council for Economic Issues and underscored the importance of creating an attractive investment and business climate in Croatia, expressing hope the government would continue with active policies in that regard. Attending the 39th regular meeting of the council, Grabar-Kitarović underscored that entrepreneurs often warn of the necessity to improve the investment climate. They complain about the red tape, legal insecurity, frequent changes to regulations and complicated legislation overall and point out the high costs of doing business and having to pay state surcharges, according to…

The presentation of this Croatian startup from Sveta Nedelja in Italy is due to its encouraging levels of success and the realisation of organisers that Croatia boasts a quiet but rather promising startup scene, despite all of the negative headlines. As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of May, 2019, one of the largest Italian startup conferences, ScaleIT, opened up for new companies from the Republic of Croatia for the first time this year. ScaleIT is an event that brings together fifteen of the most successful startups, mostly from Italy but also from abroad, and connects them with more…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2019 - An accelerated GDP growth in Q1 of 3.9% puts Croatia among those EU member states with the most dynamic economic growth, which is important for the further strengthening of Croatia's economy, competitiveness and investor confidence, the government said in a press release on Wednesday. The preliminary estimate of the national statistical office (DZS) shows that Croatia's GDP in Q1 grew 3.9% from the same period last year. That is the 19th consecutive quarter to see GDP grow and faster than in the previous quarter when the economy grew by 2.3% on the year. The increase…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2019 - Six new 'high tech' laboratories were presented on Wednesday at Zagreb's ZICER innovation centre providing services and equipment for start-ups and other companies. These are technological centres for the development of interfaces, electronics, digital forensics, environment protection technology and 3D modules and Internet of Things-IoT. The new facilities also consist of wood-metal workshops and processing centre and they have all be equipped with high tech equipment intended for research and development, ZICER representatives said. The centre also has incubated start-ups that have developed laboratories, which is a new concept because it foresees strengthening cooperation between…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2019 - Croatia has a bright energy future but should utilise its potential better and prepare well for the transition to cleaner fuels, a conference heard on Wednesday, as well as that gas boilers and internal combustion engine vehicles should no longer be used after 2030. The conference was organised by the Lider weekly. In its Energy Development Strategy, Croatia has opted for affirming domestic production from renewable sources, diversification of electricity and gas supply, higher production of all fuels and increasing storage, Environmental Protection and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said, adding that Croatia wanted to reduce…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2019 - In the first three months of this year, the Croatian economy grew 3.9% on the year, which is a record high growth since late 2007. The national statistical office (DZS) on Wednesday released its preliminary estimate under which GDP in Q1 grew 3.9% from the same period last year, and household consumption and investments are perceived as the biggest contributors to this high rise. Q1 2019 was the 19th consecutive quarter to see GDP grow and faster than in the previous quarter, when the economy grew 2.3% on the year. The Q1 growth is on…

May 29, 2019 - Croatia may not be the easiest place in Europe to do business, but there is a budding entrepreneurial class which enjoying considerable success and getting more organised. Ahead of the first MBA Croatia business conference in Zagreb next week, TCN caught up with MBA Croatia President Aco Momcilovic. His CV includes three years as the Chief Human Resources Officer of Rimac Automobili, and so MBA Croatia President Aco Momcilovic knows a thing or two about how to become globally competitive starting from Croatia, the subject of the first MBA Croatia business conference, which will take place…

More than excellent news for the Croatian job market and the domestic economy as a whole as as many as 600 jobs are set to be opened in Zagreb County thanks to a huge investment. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of May, 2019, parts for the aviation giants Boeing and Airbus will be produced in the Republic of Croatia. The parts will be incorporated into the world's most famous aircraft and their engines, including names like Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Rolls-Royce. The news was announced on Wednesday by Večernji list, citing that the Austrian aeronautical company FACC is…

ZAGREB, May 29, 2019 - A conference on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Croatia and Germany organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Zagreb on Tuesday discussed the differences and similarities in their success. In Germany, SMEs are considered a pillar of the economy, accounting for 99.5% of all businesses in the country and employing 70.4% of the population in 2017, said Harald Seibel, permanent deputy German ambassador and head of the economic department. He said many factors impacted the success of SMEs, such as demography and an increasingly old population, unqualified labour and a shortage of young people.…