As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes on the 5th of November, 2019, the opening ceremony of the Chinese International Import Fair, which is being held for the second time in Shanghai in order to increase imports and reduce trade surplus, has featured four companies from Croatia, with a total of twelve more Croatian businessmen attending the Croatian-Chinese Business Forum.

The forum has been organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), and in addition to presenting Croatia's economic and investment potential, more than thirty Chinese companies have expressed interest in concrete business talks with Croatian entrepreneurs. Among the companies whose representatives have travelled to Shanghai, some are already successfully operating on that huge market, but small, little-known companies are also testing the ground.

Pan Parket, Podravka, Zdenka, Inovatus Services, Adiratic health & care travel agency, Exotrade Rijeka, Education Travel Worldwide, Foto revija, Milena, and even the agricultural cooperative Gospoja iz Vrbnika and AMPnet IO and Intereuropa Global are looking for new opportunities in this populous country.

This year, the fair brought together around 150 countries and regions, as well as international organisations, with nearly 4,000 companies presenting themselves on a staggering 400,000 square feet of exhibition space.

The fair was officially opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sent out the message that it is important that there is mutual understanding and that people can connect, while preventing wars, protectionism and unilateralism. According to the organisers, last year, the first Import Fair was effective - 90 percent of the deals were completed, with a contract value of around 52 billion euros in total.

The Croatian Chamber of Commerce, which officially opened its representative office in Shanghai during the last fair, pointed out that Chinese interest in cooperating with companies from Croatia is growing, especially after the 16 + 1/17 + 1 Summit in Dubrovnik. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce also allows companies from Croatia who are interested in doing business in China to use their office space, and so far, they say, about 20 companies have expressed interest.

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Despite the media loving to spread the negatives, there is an enormous amount of positivity in Croatia, and the level of innovation and drive from certain Croatian companies is impressive. One can only imagine what the results would be if the political and economic climate turned in their favour. One such company is a very small one with just eight employees, located in Samobor.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of November, 2019, the world is gradually being ''conquered'' by the radars of a small Samobor company which boasts just a handful of employees. They strengthened their position on the global stage by entering no less than the highly prosperous Chinese market. The Samobor-based company's production program is the result of its very own development, and almost all of its production is realised right here in Croatia, HRT reports.

Sensors in hydrology, industrial sensors and radars for security systems used across five continents are all produced in the unassuming continental Croatian town of Samobor, just a short drive from Zagreb.

''We first started selling various electrical appliances and software development services to companies around the world, and then relatively early on in the development of the company, the idea came up to start developing our products and we started with our radar story,'' says Tomislav Grubeša, Geolux's technical director.

That story led them to a hold a thirty percent share of the Chinese market, and a ten percent share of the global market.

''A little luck mixed with a bit of coincidence saw us able to reach some really good partners over in China, who managed to push our products into a large number of water measurement projects, ie, flow measurement across rivers in China,'' said Grubeša.

This Samobor-based company's currently best-selling product is a set of radars for flow measurement in hydrology.

''From this, it's possible to calculate the total flow of water, in cubic metres per second, which is actually needed by hydrologists to be able to plan, for example, flood defenses or plan for the use of energy in hydroelectric power plants,'' said Nikša Orlić, Geolux's director.

Such sensors, in addition to the large Chinese rivers, are also found on the Hendrix Bridge, in Gunja, and more recently on Vrljica. They are also currently working on four new projects, including detection to help detect drones.

"Because every flight drone has to spin propellers that produce a certain sound, they can actually be accurately detected by an acoustic camera," Grubeša explained.

Geolux has recently introduced such new radar platforms for security systems in Northern Europe, more precisely in the United Kingdom, to NATO members as part of a military exercise.

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As Novac writes on the 1st of November, 2019, the Croatian company Infinum, which, by the way, operates not only here in the Republic of Croatia, but all over the world, said that simply changing their web domain from infinum.hr to infinum.com saw great changes follow.

''We started the company back while we were still students with lots of ideas but very shallow pockets, so we had to be careful what we spent. Since we started in Croatia, we got the ''.hr'' domain for free. But to expand our business abroad, we needed a country-specific domain,'' Tomislav Car wrote on the Infinum website, adding that he and his colleague, Matej Špoler, had decided in this context to buy the .co domain because it was the "closest" to .com, which was still too expensive for them at the time.

But as many as 495 of the top 500 American companies in 2016 had the .com domain, he points out, so it seemed to the two that this was one of the conditions for a successful business, and as Infinum grew, so did Car and Špoler's investment opportunities. When the company reached a figure of 30 employees, they decided it was time to take a step further. Still, the infinum.com domain was taken.

''Alexander had a software development company of the same name and had no intention of selling us the domain name. His clients knew him by that name, so the change was risky,'' recalled Tomislav Car, who was not stopped by this obstacle on the way to his desired address for the company's website.

Instead, he sent mail to Alexander five to six times a year for the entire seven years and each time offered him more money for the letter 'm' in the domain name. While the Croatian company Infinum was growing and enjoying more business success, the American company of the same name decided to change its focus, so the name of the company no longer meant that much. Still, Car claims, "Alexander wasn't ready to give up his domain."

''It made sense. We were the only buyer, and he was the only seller. My first offer was 3,000 US dollars while his counter offer was 100,000 US dollars. Our seven-year bargaining would even embarrass the traders from Istanbul's Bazaar,'' said the co-founder of Infinum, adding that after these painstaking and lengthy negotiations, they paid 25,000 US dollars for the letter.

Yet, he believes, it has paid off. Search engines like Google, as Car explained, are well known for ranking domains not related to a particular country when listing results.

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The methodology is based on the analysis of the twelve pillars of competitiveness: institutions, infrastructure, the application of ICT, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, the product market, the labour market, the financial system, market size, business dynamics, and capacity for innovation, according to Poslovni Dnevnik on the 9th of October, 2019. In what way has Croatia managed to improve?

The National Competitiveness Council, as a partner of the World Economic Forum in the Global Competitiveness Program, has published the results of the "Global Competitiveness Report 2019". In this year's report, Croatia is ranked 63rd among 141 economies across the world and has improved its position by five places when compared to last year, which marks the largest shift in Croatia's immediate region that any country has made.

''Croatia's significant progress on the competitiveness ladder is due primarily to macroeconomic stability and the quality of infrastructure. The consistent efforts of the Croatian Government when it comes to fiscal discipline, resolving the troubled issues and withdrawing EU funds have resulted in greater competitiveness for Croatia. I believe that this will be an incentive for our society as a whole to further develop structural changes and improve regulatory frameworks, and thus contribute to the well-being of those living in Croatia,'' said Ivica Mudrinić, President of the National Competitiveness Council.

The Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 places emphasis on the fourth industrial revolution and innovation that promotes new business models and accelerates growth.

The industrial revolution captures and reflects the changes that have come under the influence of advanced computer and communication technologies and have thus created a leap forward in the development of a new industrial paradigm. In order to prosper, economies must remain consistently open to new ideas, be efficient in embracing change, be determined to build an innovation ecosystem where innovation is present at all levels and invest in their employees as a key factor in their success. The index identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each individual economy, and helps identify important areas for improvement and tracks further progress.

The twelve pillars of competitiveness

As previously mentioned, the methodology is based on the analysis of the twelve pillars of competitiveness: institutions, infrastructure, the application of ICT, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, the product market, the labour market, the financial system, market size, business dynamics and the capacity for innovation. The pillars of competitiveness are also grouped into four groups: business environment, human capital, markets and the innovation ecosystem.

The total number of indicators is 103, and the share of “solid” statistical indicators is 70 percent, while 30 percent of the indicators refer to indicators obtained by the survey of businessmen's opinions. Therefore, the overall ranking is much less dependent on perception, which is a common practice, and more on real, statistical indicators. This survey covers 99 percent of world GDP and 94 percent of the world's population.

The methodology also measures the country's distance from becoming the "ideal state" by a score of 0 to 100, and compared to last year, Croatia improved its rating by 1.8 and now stands at 61.9, which means that the country is now 38.1 away from being the ideal state (rating 100), which is likely a surprise for many.

This year's report focuses on the care of the environment, which has become essential for the sustainable growth of a country's economy. The focus is on climate change affecting agricultural production due to extreme weather changes and environmental pollution, the use of renewable energy sources and the availability of safe drinking water.

Singapore is the most competitive country in the world this year, followed by the United States, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

On the global competitiveness ladder, Croatia achieved the greatest progress in the pillar of macroeconomic stability, taking 43rd place, which is a jump of 63 places when compared to last year. Croatia is also better ranked in the pillar of infrastructure (32nd), health (47th) and the labour market (94th) than last year.

Compared to last year, there has unfortunately been a decline in the pillar of institutions (77th), ICT applications (60th), skills (69th), product markets (86th), the financial system (63rd), business dynamics (101st) and the capacity for innovation (73).

Among the competitive advantages are inflation (1st), the high level of electrification (2nd), trade barriers (6th), the quality of the roads (13th), workers' rights (14th), etc.

Rather unsurprisingly, Croatia remains the worst in the efficiency of the legal system when it comes to dispute resolution.

As in previous years, Croatia remains the worst in the efficiency of the legal system in dispute resolution (140), the burden of government regulations (139), the efficiency of the legal system in challenging regulations (138), the ease of hiring a foreign workforce (137), the tendency towards entrepreneurial risks (137th), the government's focus on the future (137th), finding skilled labour (137th), employment and layoffs (136th), etc.

The report shows that, by abolishing Croatia's infamous, draconian and truly awful administrative procedures, creating a much needed atmosphere of legal certainty and reducing corporate giving, the government could improve the business and investment climate. In order to strengthen the innovation ecosystem, policies must encourage the transfer of technologies and knowledge in order to strengthen the technological readiness of the economy to apply new knowledge to the creation of innovative products and services, primarily by developing a scientific and educational system.

The main messages of the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 for Croatia are as follows:

Croatia needs to focus more on increasing competitiveness, as this is of great importance in order to improve overall living standards

Global economies are not ready for a future decline in productivity

Policy makers need to turn to policies other than monetary policies that increase investment and incentives to revive productivity growth

Finding a balance between technological integration and investment in human capital will be crucial to increasing productivity

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Mateo from Rijeka, Croatia, arrived in the Canadian city of Toronto with some of his personal belongings and five thousand Canadian dollars, three thousand of which were his savings throughout the years, and a thousand dollars were given to him by his family. He didn't know anyone, and he didn't have a recommendation, writes Poslovni Dnevnik on the 8th of October, 2019.

Mateo Polić was born in 1990 in the Northern Ariatic city of Rijeka, where he graduated from school, after that, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, majoring in Business Economics. While studying in Zagreb, he met a few people who were resident or staying in Canada because of their work, which in some ways expanded his business perspective.

''I got a job offer in one company for 1,600 kuna. It was part of the program of employment of highly educated persons for vocational training without employment. I refused and decided to leave Croatia. Canada was my choice. I applied for a working holiday visa, which at the time was granted once per year, in February, under the "fastest finger" system, without looking for any other conditions.

At that time, the Canadian Embassy issued 275 such visas a year, and several thousand were reported that year. I was literally sitting in front of my computer waiting for a some news and - I succeeded, writes Novi list.

I told myself and them - I'm going to try it, so as to at least use the one year visa. Namely, after a year, 90 percent of people return from Canada because they cannot extend their residence permit in the country. A visa can only be extended if, if you've found a job, and you can prove that you're better than any Canadian applying for that same job, Polić explains.

A few months after obtaining a permanent visa, Mateo decided to move on, to change jobs. He left Michael Page, a company that recruits people for work, something like an employment agency.

''After Michael Page, I joined Shopify, which allows the fast startup of a website where I worked as an in-house headhunter. After three years working for others, in May 2016, I decided to start my own recruitment firm, Accentio Group, and we're focused on marketing and sales. I have two employees, I work five days a week, from 08:00 to 18:00, I'm free on the weekends. So far I'm very pleased, I'm making a decent living. However, I've got no intention of just stopping there,'' Polić told Novi list.

I saved about a thousand dollars a month, and after three years, I decided to invest all my savings from that period, a total of 36 thousand Canadian dollars, into my own business. I took the risk, but it paid off. I now have thirty clients from four countries - Canada, America, the Netherlands and Germany.

I have plans to expand to England, but my wish is to expand to Croatia, says Mateo Polić, adding that at the moment he is not considering returning to Croatia, but does want to open a branch here.

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This innovative Croatian woman works at night when she is the most creative, and makes bracelets, earrings... She sells them over the internet, and since summer, her jewellery has been on sale in her newly opened store in the popular Istrian city of Pula.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 10th of September, 2019, five years ago, Petra Fabian Kapov started making jewellery as a personal hobby, and today, she can boast of the success of her brand Mashna by Petra Fabian, which has become recognised worldwide, and as was described by tourists, the Queen of England herself would wear it.

The young entrepreneur who graduated in criminology and still works as a journalist at a major media outlet, first created jewellery for herself, her sister, her mother, and her friends as a hobby.

"When everyone was happy with it, I dared to offer it to others as well. The feeling that someone saw and recognised me was a great confirmation of my work. It was an opportunity that allowed a great number of new women to get to know Mashna," says Fabian Kapov.

As for the jewellery supply, she says, she is constantly changing it up, depending on the collection, but mostly they are necklaces and brooches because, as she adds, they also attract the most interest, and in slightly smaller production she offers bracelets, earrings, and headbands for children.

The prices vary, from one hundred kuna upwards, and depend solely on the type and quantity of materials and accessories. Thanks to social networking, this jewellery is not available only in Croatia but all over the world, and this summer, she opened a store in right in the very centre of her native city of Pula.

Special orders still run exclusively through social networks, calls and e-mails. The shop is mostly visited by foreigners, and this Croatian-made jewellery is worn by European women from Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and England, and a few American women.

"They also order it through social networks, right now a package is heading for New York and two are heading to Germany," the designer boasted. She makes the jewellery at home when everyone goes to sleep, because then, she says, her creativity awakens and she enjoys the peace and relaxation that the calmness of the night brings.

"I'm pleased with the reactions because I never expected that I'd ever make jewellery and that it would be sought-after; that I'd be praised and receive messages about how beautiful it looks," said Petra, who works with cosmetics companies, artists, associations and even with choirs.

"I'm proud of every product in my small workshop because a lot of effort, love and time is woven into it. If I'm not satisfied, then the product does not come out. I'm proud every time I see women wearing it," concluded Petra Fabian Kapov.

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Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac's famed company Rimac Automobili has secured an increase in investment from Porsche, seeing Porsche raise its stake in the company to 15.5 percent.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of September, 2019, back in June 2018, the giant German sports car maker purchased a 10 percent stake in Rimac Automobili. Increasing Porsche's stake now strengthens their already established partnership.

As Porsche increases the range of its electrified models, the partnership they have with Rimac Automobili will leverage what Rimac's enviable expertise in vehicle electrification, including powertrains, batteries, motors and inverters means in the automotive industry.

"Porsche has been following the positive developments from Rimac for a year," stated Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer of Porsche AG. "It quickly became apparent to us that Porsche and Rimac could learn a lot from each other. We believe in Mate Rimac and his company, so now we've increased our stake and expanded our collaboration in battery technology."

This Croatian entrepreneur's journey from his garage to incredible global recognition is an inspiring story of success that has been achieved in less than a decade, and in a country like Croatia, which isn't known for being the land of hope and glory for budding entrepreneurs. Today, in partnership with the full spectrum of high-performance car manufacturers, his team of 600 people work alongside him to create some of the fastest and most exciting electric road vehicles in the world.

"One of the most important milestones in our history has been to win Porsche as a partner. The fact that Porsche is now increasing its stake is the best confirmation of our cooperation and the basis for an even closer relationship," said the company's founder and CEO Mate Rimac.

''We're just at the very beginning of our partnership - and our high expectations have already been fulfilled. We have many ideas that we want to bring together in the future. The key is to create a win-win situation for both partners and add value to our end customers by developing exciting electric models.''

Increasing Porsche's stake in Rimac Automobili will contribute to the rapid pace of this company's overall development, which includes a significant increase in the company's production.

In addition to designing, developing and manufacturing advanced technologies for a variety of high-performance car brands, Rimac Automobili is currently completing its C_Two car development ahead of production in 2020.

The car will undergo an intensive testing program as part of type approval for distribution across all of the world's markets.

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As Novac/Goran Penic/Barbara Ban writes on the 23rd of August, 2019, the Croatian Ministry of State Property extended the deadline for the submission of offers for the construction of a tourist complex at the location of the Hidrobaza in Pula, owned by botj the state and the City of Pula, back at the beginning of the week. Investors now have time to report their offers by October the 1st, as opposed to August the 30th, 2019.

According to the aforementioned ministry, two investors sought an extension due to the summer break, but the ministry did not disclose any names. As Novac reports unofficially, this involves the largest Croatian hotel company, Valamar Riviera, based in Poreč, Istria, which owns Camp Brioni next to Puntižela, and the French group Bouygues, whose branch in Croatia has a concession over Istria's Ypsilon.

Upon being asked about this situation, Valamar Riviera did not want to confirm or deny any information.

Valamar Riviera has remained unable to answer the question of whether or not Valamar has expressed interest in the Hidrobaza location in Pula, given that the deadline for the submission of bids is only the 30th of August.

''After the deadline for submission of offers, we will be able to answer your inquiry,'' said the largest Croatian tourist company, which is already known to the public as a large investor. This year alone, the giant Croatian hotel group has invested as much as 793 million kuna in its portfolio, and is preparing a new investment cycle of 599 million kuna for the next one. In recent years, they have invested as much as 5 billion kuna in Croatian tourism.

The French Bouygues Group has already invested in Croatia, but not in the hotel industry. They are known as dealers and contractors at the Istrian Ypsilon and at the Zagreb's new Franjo Tuđman Airport. They are currently expanding the Ypsilon on a 28-kilometre stretch from Pazin to Učka. It is an investment worth 1.237 billion kuna, which will be realised within the next three years. Projects in tourism are very close to them, though, and they have built twelve hotels across France, the Caribbean, Myanmar, Morocco, Dubai, London and Cuba.

However, despite the fact that there are two very serious names behind this project that have great references in Croatia, in the Croatian tourism sector there is still a great deal of skepticism about the realisation of it all, probably because of past experiences that have not been the most positive.

These tenders have always been extended, and until now, a concession has been given within the Brijuni Riviera only for the Katarina-Monumenti location, namely to Danko Končar, who still has not realised his meganautical project in the port of Pula to this day. A source who is very familiar with the circumstances surrounding the Brijuni Riviera project believes that the tender conditions are quite restrictive.

''One of the limiting factors is that there is a public beach in front of the future tourist facilities. If one wants to build a hotel, of course they then want to have a part of the beach as well. On top of that, some of the facilities there are under conservation protection, so the investor must adapt to that as well,'' explained Novac's interlocutor. He also stated that it should finally be understood that investors need to be offered something in order to make them actually invest, and that the beauty of the Croatian coast and Istria is not the only thing that is crucial in investment stories.

Otherwise, the Hidrobaza location covers an area of ​​281,000 square metres, and construction rights are possible for fifty years. The initial value of the annual building rights fee is 2.3 million kuna, which will be revalued every three years. The deadline for the construction of a 1200-star four-star tourist destination is five years.

Pula Mayor Boris Miletić stated that he has been formally notified of the extension of the public call, however, while the proceedings are ongoing, he claims he has no knowledge of potential interested investors or potential bids.

''Every serious investor needs some time to elaborate on their offer. For Pula and all the people of Pula, that entire area, as well as other formerly unused and decaying state-owned military areas, are of great importance and development potential. It is our interest that the state, as the owner, put them in the function of development, as this would enable the creation of new jobs and accelerate the economic growth of Pula,'' said Miletić.

He added that the new facilities and the higher standard of living of all the people of Pula is what they strive for, which can be ensured by putting neglected and unused spaces properly back into operation.

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There is a lot to be said about this little country when it comes to breeding talent. From the sporting world to the development, technology, medical and innovation world, Croatia is known for providing the world with incredible minds. Two ex FER students and their remarkable business accomplisment have continued to do nothing else but prove that.

As Novac writes on the 21st of August, 2019, a software company called Repsly, co-founded by two former FER students, Marko Kovač and Marko Linke, has just been listed on Inc. 5000, the prestigious American list of the fastest growing companies.

The respected American business magazine, Inc., creates a new list each year which ranks the world's companies by comparing their revenue growth from 2015 to 2018. Repsly, the company started by two ex FER students which is often called the "Facebook for merchants," enjoyed revenue growth of 388 percent in three years, and was ranked in 1086th place, in the company of major global companies that were also ranked there, including the likes of Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Timberland and LinkedIn.

''I think listing it in such a good position is a great recognition of the quality of work we do at Repsly and is an additional motivation for the whole team,'' said Marko Kovač, ex FER student and co-founder of Repsly, an application used by 1,100 companies in as many as eighty countries around the world, including famous retailers such as Adidas, Keune and Mid-Wisconsin Beverage (the Pepsi manufacturer).

It is used by merchants who can then track the sales of their products directly through the app itself. Repsly generates between five million and ten million US dollars in revenue each year, and employs more than fifty people in its Zagreb and Boston (USA) offices.

Kovač and Linke, who know each other from their student days at Zagreb's well known FER, left the management of the company in the hands of American citizen Matthew Brogie several years ago, with whom Novac recently had an interview. Considering the fact that they are "an American company with a subsidiary in Zagreb", Magazine Inc. listed them in this year's ranking.

''The entire Repsly team has worked hard to achieve this level of growth. We're excited to reach the next level! We have grown to more than fifty people and 1000 customers and we're ready to grow even faster as we become better at solving the problems of larger companies. We'll use our position of one of the fastest growing software companies to reach more customers and solve their problems in a more innovative way,'' concluded Repsly's American CEO, Matthew Brogie.

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LED bulbs continue to be the best selling item in the huge Ikea department store in Rugvica near the City of Zagreb.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of August, 2019, the incredibly popular Ikea department store located in Rugvica near the Croatian capital of Zagreb marked its fifth anniversary of business operations in Croatia on Wednesday.

During this five year period, the department store in Rugvica, just east of Zagreb, was visited by more than 8.5 million customers, their website had 28 million visitors, almost 139,000 children played in their playroom, and almost 105,000 people participated in various workshops organised by Ikea.

Among the best-selling products in the Republic of Croatia are LED bulbs, with as many as 1,331,916 various types having been sold, saving Croatia's residents about 800 million kWh, or almost 350 million kuna in total.

More than 292,000 members are involved in the Ikea Family loyalty program. In the first year of business operations in Croatia, the Croatian subsidiary of the globally present Swedish chain was selected as the best employer among large companies by an independent survey of the equally popular Moj Posao (My Job) portal, while in 2016 and 2017, it remained among the top three in the whole country.

Since Ikea's popularity skyrocketed and its delivery centres have opened in Rijeka, Split and Osijek, since February this year, a fourth centre has been operating all the way down in the extreme south of Dalmatia, more precisely in Dubrovnik.

The enormous company, according to their anniversary announcement, cares greatly for gender equality, and more than half of Ikea Croatia's executives are women, and in partnership with company partners, they have formed an alliance for gender equality.

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