May the 30th, 2023 - The Croatian brand Wise Grus has gone from strength to strength, leaving the world of relative obscurity to becoming extremely well known in international circles and for all sorts of different occasions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian brand Wise Grus is consumed as part of all sorts of celebrations, important anniversaries are celebrated with it, and both kisses and tears are shed with it. Those flavours stay in the memory for a long time, according to brandy and rakija lovers.

While lovers of a drop or two of strong alcohol say that, confirmation of it certainly comes in the form of the same being said by the jury of the world's most prestigious competition for spirits, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, which recently awarded double gold and silver to the Croatian brand Wise Grus' Lozovaca Barique and the much loved Sljivovica. This competition is otherwise considered the most important in the spirits category, it has been being held for 23 years now, and the evaluation criteria are extremely stringent and high.

All of the above would not be unusual if it were not for the fact that this small Daruvar distillery's products won two gold medals in Frankfurt for its Dunjevac and Lozovac shortly after entering the market. It wouldn't be strange either if it hadn't earned recognition for being the best Croatian distillery presented in Frankfurt so soon after emerging. After only eight months of presence on the market, the distillery's shelves already boast a total of six awards, double gold in San Francisco and one silver, an award in Zagreb and two awards in Frankfurt.

Although it is a debut distillery, it has actually entered higher society with great strides. There are many plans for this new Croatian brand, and they're not even aware of the importance of these prestigious awards because the team working there simply does what it loves. Where they will end up in the future remains to be seen, but judging by the "fiery" start they've enjoyed, there are still many challenges and a lot of recognition ahead of them.

They believe that their success will encourage other brandy producers in the Republic of Croatia to make every effort to activate the thriving domestic spirits market and become recognisable both in Europe and indeed in other countries around the world.

For more, check out our business section.

May 17, 2023 - A wonderful collision of tradition, heritage, and FINALLY quality tourism content away from the beach, as Made in Croatia opens as Hvar celebrates 155 years of organised tourism. 

Something quite extraordinary happened in Hvar Town on Monday evening, even though it was uncharacteristically raining on Croatia's sunshine island. Indeed, perhaps the rain was a good thing, as it highlighted the event and the new addition to this season's tourism on Hvar. 

The location was a magnificent building on the corner of the largest square in Dalmatia, the date May 15 - exactly 155 years since the birth of organised tourism in Europe with the founding of the Hvar Health Society in 1868, right across the square where today luxury 5-star Palace Elisabeth hvar heritage hotel welcome's Croatia's premier island's luxury guests. 

The building in question is an extraordinary one, and one with lots of hidden layers. On the top floor of the imposing Arsenal is one of the island's secrets that often goes unnoticed by tourists and passers-by - the oldest public theatre in Europe, which opened in 1612, and which has recently undergone a complete renovation. 

Below the building, are Roman ruins which were discovered during renovation works a few years ago. And the main building itself is the magnificent Arsenal, whose name explains part of its illustrious past, guarding the entrance to Hvar's magical centre stage. ITs renovation complete, the Arsenal is a delightful multi-purpose entertainment centre, which has been taken over for the next few months for a quite magnificent exhibition which opened on the 155th anniversary of Hvar's organised tourism story. 

The Made in Croatia exhibition is an outstanding interactive showcase of the very best of Croatian innovation and invention over the centuries, featuring some 38 topics in an original and engaging way. Croatian tourism often falls short of quality content for all the family away from the beach, but here is an outstanding exhibition in a stunning location, which is guaranteed to bring in tourists and locals alike, and to educate and showcase the magic not just of Hvar, but also of Croatia. It would have been easy just to dedicate this exhibition space to Hvar and its considerable offer over the island, but what a fantastic way of representing the whole country in one prime tourist location.  

Our good friends from the Turisticke Price portal attended the opening: Here is what they had to say:

In the historic Hvar Arsenal, one of the trademarks of the city of Hvar, the exhibition "Hvar presents: Made in Croatia" was opened, which presents in one place the builders of the foundations of the Croatian identity, whose inventions, knowledge and ideas have become part of civilizational assets and artifacts of cultural heritage without which today it is almost impossible to imagine the functioning of modern life.

The exhibition "Hvar presents: Made in Croatia" is part of the program by which the Town of Hvar and the Tourist Board of the Town of Hvar commemorate 155 years of organized tourism in Hvar, and the opening ceremony was held on the very day of the founding of the Hygiene Society, the first such association in Europe, a kind of forerunner of tourist boards. that we know today. Back in 1868, spa tourism was the main reason for coming to Hvar, and with this exhibition, we want to focus on cultural tourism. Because Hvar, in addition to the beautiful nature, superb food and wine and vibrant atmosphere, is a city where culture is an integral part of its identity.

This specially tailored exhibition is a unique event in which, through a multimedia encounter with great men, their inventions or works of art that left their mark on the world level, a part of Croatian heritage is presented to the people of Hvar and their guests. The exhibition is on display until July 20.

Originality, visionary, wide application of ideas and inventions were the criteria for selecting the individuals represented at the exhibition. The unique national, scientific and cultural heritage is presented in the curatorial conception of Dr. sc. Anita Ruso Brečić.

@turistickeprice Hvar presents -Made in Croatia This is Croatia ✔️ #glagoljica #nikolatesla #bascanskaploca #slavoljubpenkala #rudjerboskovic #penkala #faustvrancic #lavoslavružička #doramaar #baltazar #ivanmestrovic #andrijastampar #jurajdalmatinac??? #torpedo #zepelin #parachute #petarhektorovic #davidschwartz #haniballucic #modric #drazenpetrovic #hvar #hvararsenal #croatia?? #croatiantiktok #fyp ♬ Memories - Lux-Inspira

Invention and art
The exhibition consists of a total of 38 topics. Some of the topics refer to individuals such as Nikola Tesla, Faust Vrančić, Doraa Maar, Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Ivan Vučetić and Hanibal Lucić, while certain topics refer to groups of people (from the same field of activity) and separate cultural heritage specific to the island of Hvar and/or Croatia.

The main guiding thought of the exhibition concept is to create links between the inventive and artistic past, present and future. Various works of art, author's designs, patents, archival documents and videos can be viewed in the exhibition, as well as devices and devices created according to the patents and ideas of deserving individuals.

The Hvar Arsenal, itself a cultural asset of national importance, is once again becoming a unique exhibition space and a place for meetings, exchange of ideas, and perhaps inspiration for some new visionaries.

Excellent stuff, and I do encourage you to check it out if you are visiting Hvar before it closed on July 20. 

But that is not the only piece of magic in this most impressive of buildings, for upstairs in Europe's oldest public theatre, the 50th edition of Hvar Theatre Days kicked off (see the program below), a unique opportunity to experience this historic and delightful theatre. 

Hvar's special anniversary was remembered in other ways as well, including a special panel of influential tourism personalities, called Culture in Tourism. Tourism in Culture. From the Hvar Tourist Board Facebook page:

At today's panel discussion "Culture in tourism, tourism in culture", held on the basis of celebrating 155 years of organized tourism in Hvar, there were discussions about the connection between tourism, culture and creative industries, the valorization of cultural heritage and its inclusion in the tourist offer, what is the tourist potential but also what are the challenges we face.

The following participated in the panel:

• Tonči Glavina, State Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia
• Renata Tomljenović, Institute for Tourism, Zagreb
• Nataša Bušić, HGK Split – cultural tourism section
• Ivana Vladović, director of Central Dalmatia Tourism Board Director
• Miro Drašković, director of Dubrovnik Tourist Board
• Katija Vučetić, head of the Department for Culture and Public Relations of the City of Hvar
• Damir Kanaet, culture manager and executive producer of the "Made in Croatia" exhibition
• Goran Rihelj, owner and editor of HRTurizam portal, moderator of the panel

Peak season is coming, which will attract a different type of tourist to this most versatile of tourist islands, but these last few days have been a powerful reminder of cultural and traditional Hvar, one of the richest islands in the Mediterranean for its history and culture. 

May the 1st, 2023 - Croatian companies were present exhibiting their fish products at the recently held Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) which organised the visit, has stated that it is doing all it can to aid Croatian companies in internationalisation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, just like over the past several years, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce organised the joint presentation of Croatian companies from the fishing sector at the Seafood Expo Global international fair, which was held from April the 25th to the 27th in Barcelona. At the fair, 2,078 exhibitors from 87 countries exhibited on approximately 50,000 m2 of exhibition space.

The following Croatian companies presented their various fishery products at this important fair: Arbacommerce, Conex Trade, Cromaris, Jadran tuna, Mislov, Orada Adriatic, Pelagos Net Farma, PP Orahovica, Sardina and ZMH Horvat. The most important products they presented were white fish, tuna, salted small blue fish, frozen small blue fish, canned food, freshwater fish and various fish-based processed products.

"The fundamental determinants of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce are the strengthening of exports and assistance to Croatian companies in the internationalisation of their business operations. Therefore, I'm particularly pleased that with the help of HGK, ten of our members, who derive a significant part of their income from export sales - 55 to 85 percent to be more precise - exhibited their fishery products at this most important international fair. In the new programme period until 2027, HGK will continue to support the export efforts of our members, and promote the sustainability of Croatian fisheries and the consumption of fish and products from Croatian cultivation and catch through the implementation of the Fish of Croatia Eat what it's worth EU project,'' said HGK president Luka Burilovic.

For PP Orahovica, the largest domestic producer of freshwater fish, this fair was an opportunity to present its products of the Panona Mare brand to business visitors and potential customers.

"We attracted the attention of visitors as the only brand with a ready-to-eat breaded freshwater fish programme. These are products that are adapted to the needs of the modern consumer, simpler to prepare and tastier to consume, and with which we're already present on the domestic market and are preparing for placement on the European and world markets. As one of the most important events in the fishing sector, this fair is an excellent platform for business meetings with target customers in the B2B segment, but also an opportunity to further build the image of our Panona Mare brand,'' said Katica Petkov, the marketing manager of PP Orahovica.

The Mislov company has otherwise been participating in this fair for a number of years now. "We believe that it's the best platform for presenting our products to new customers, but also an opportunity to meet our long-term partners. This fair is important to us because we can learn about the latest trends and innovations in the world of fishing and the opportunity to try to follow them," said Marina Spralja from Mislov.

The very well known Cromaris, as the leading producer of Mediterranean white fish here in Croatia, presented its wide range of products to those present at the Barcelona fair. This year, a special focus was placed on organic fish, so innovations in production were presented. Visitors to the fair were able to taste various delicacies made from Cromaris fish prepared by chef Mladen Krizanovic, and the sushi was especially attractive to those present.

The export of fishery products in 2022 compared to 2021 recorded a growth of 14 percent and amounts to 312.5 million euros, which represents an increase of 38.5 million euros. The surplus last year amounted to 64.7 million euros, and the coverage of imports by exports was 126 percent. In the structure of exports in 2022 by product group, fresh or chilled fish are the most represented, accounting for 51.6 percent of the total export value, fish products and preserves (16.5%) and dried, salted or brined fish and smoked fish (11.1%).

Products from Croatian companies operating within the fisheries sector worth 211.4 million (67.6%) were placed on the market of EU countries last year. Looking at exports individually by country, in 2022, the first export market was Italy with 104 million eutos (33.3%), followed by Japan with 39.7 million euros (12.7%) and Spain with 36.7 million euros (11.7%).

Since way back in 2004, HGK has been sending Croatian companies to the world's largest fish fair, Seafood Expo Global. For a number of years now, the performance of Croatian companies has been financed through the aforementioned EU project which is aimed at promoting fishery products and increasing exports of the Croatian fishing sector.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

April the 13th, 2023 - The impressive Croatian ReversingLabs software company is aiming for the very prestigious unicorn status with its brand new product. It seems they have a very good chance of success.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, during these times when we do just about everything via the Internet - we communicate, pay for things, shop, work, study, and even count our steps using the web - the security of our data and software has never been more important, and it's also never been less secure.

''There are countless channels for attack, from messages, emails, links and documents we open, to the basic pages we browse. The methods these hackers and attacks use are constantly developing and improving,'' Igor Lasic, senior vice president for technology of the Croatian ReversingLabs software company explained. ReversingLabs otherwise specialises precisely in cyber security, and Lasic continued by noting that artificial intelligence (AI) will be another component that will further complicate the fight between the good and bad online.

For example, as he he explained, in the software supply chain, the bad guys are constantly looking for weaknesses, and the good guys are constantly looking for ways to eliminate them. "It's a dead race, although users today are still in a slightly better situation than they were ten years ago," said Lasic.

It's specifically in this area - the software supply chain - that the Croatian ReversingLabs company, with offices in Zagreb and across the pond in Boston, deals with. ReversingLabs is currently seeking an opportunity to achieve the goal they are striving for the most - to become a unicorn, that is, a company worth a billion US dollars. They're currently in the phase, he said, of starting to conquer the market with a brand new product.

The company founded by Mario Vuksan and Tomislav Pericin started its operations in Zagreb fourteen years ago with a focus primarily placed on cyber security. This focus is based on previous work experience in the American company Bit9, which was later renamed to Carbon Black. They have focused on developing technology to detect and fight against malicious software (malware), and today they have the best static analysis of software in the entire world that doesn't require any sort of access to the source code.

A turning point in the development of the Croatian ReversingLabs company was the attack by the Russian secret services on the American software company SolarWinds when there was a breach in the networks of tens of thousands of American companies and government agencies. Then, by chance, ReversingLabs turned out to be the only technology option possible for detecting advanced software supply chain attacks.

"Most of the components of today's software, about 80% of them, come from open sources, that is, the Internet. The primary tactic of the attackers is to get to open sources and insert their components into parts of the software, which the users then completely unconsciously incorporate into their own software," explained Lasic.

As terrifying as that sounds, there are more and more such incidents taking place, and heavily infected software packages are discovered on a weekly basis, with several major incidents occurring annually.

The biggest and most sophisticated such attack so far was the aforementioned "SolarWinds" attack, and nowdays we're witnessing another big attack - the one through the 3CX application for making calls over the Internet.

''Our task is to control open source repositories on a daily basis, and even more often, with the aim of detecting infected software components and preventing such incidents from taking place,'' Lasic pointed out. The quality of their solution was also quickly recognised by investors, and the Croatian ReversingLabs company received a second round of investment in the amount of 56 million US dollars back in 2021, while in total they have received 81 million dollars of investment to date, which makes them one of the most potent domestic startups that could take the title of the third Croatian unicorn.

According to Lasic, the latest investment was led by the private equity fund Crosspoint Capital, which is interesting for several reasons. It is led by some of the giants of the technology industry in the modern day, and one of the partners in the fund is Greg Clark, a big name in the world of cyber security who managed Symantec, a well-known American software giant, for several years.

"They recognised the potential of the technology that ReversingLabs has developed and believe that we can become a unicorn. They're also specific in that they provide us with both tactical and strategic assistance," says ReversingLabs' senior vice president for technology. ReversingLabs will really need that help, because the company is in the phase when it has to market its new product, and on the insanely competitive American market, that is certainly not easy, even with the best possible product.

"Sales and marketing must now capitalise on the technical excellence that we've developed and ensure our recognition on that market," emphasised Lasic, who replaced Zagreb with Boston during his studies and "stayed" there for a full 30 years. The majority of that investment was invested in the development of a product intended to provide security in the software procurement chain and to strengthen the team in charge of sales and marketing.

They increased that department in their American office located in Cambridge near Boston by about five times, and the number of people in Zagreb, who are engaged in engineering work, research and product development, by about 40. Today they have a total of more than 250 employees, and more than 170 of those people are based here in Zagreb. A significant spring in their step in terms of the conquest of the US market will surely be the fact that the analytical company Forrester included them in their overview of the most complete solutions of SCA suppliers (software composition analysis) for the year 2023.

This is important, according to Lasic, because based on that list, numerous companies decide which and whose solution they will implement. Their goal is to conquer the American market, where they currently generate 90 percent of their revenue with their first product, and those figures have been growing significantly for the past two years now. Europe is important to them, but it is a smaller market, and the general level of awareness of cyber security, as well as the budgets dedicated to it, are much lower.

Despite the difficult economic situation we all continue to find ourselves in, the Croatian ReversingLabs company isn't too concerned about the turbulence and crisis unfolding in the technology sector, which is currently in full swing in the USA and around the world.

"This is the best time to start something. Hard times either bring out the best in you or destroy you. In this situation, you have to focus all your energy on finding the best and optimal ways to make money," said Lasic, who led the development of as many as six startups across the pond in America before coming to ReversingLabs. He has been at ReversingLabs for eight years now, and what keeps him going is the founder's ambition and new projects, of which there is no shortage.

"The company is constantly growing, so my function changes accordingly, which is a big challenge for me. That makes me happy and it's really fulfilling. The worst thing is when the company stagnates because it's difficult to maintain the work ethic in such situations,'' concluded Lasic.

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

March the 16th, 2023 - Borovo has been swimming in troubled waters for a long time now, but could an otherwise wholly unpopular measure actually end up being the best solution of all for this enfeebled company? Maybe.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, a couple of years ago, it seemed that everything regarding the survival of Borovo had finally fallen into place properly, a restructuring programme was fully drawn up, of which the consulting company KPMG was in charge. Since then, the extension of the CERP guarantees has only been approved in order to postpone the repayment of loans to the state banks for yet another year, thanks to which Borovo is still keeping afloat, and the new deadline for another such decision is coming up in just a month.

In CERP, which is the 100 percent owner of this much loved Vukovar-based footwear manufacturer, the case of its restructuring is considered one of the top priorities in 2023, after several problematic cases in the state portfolio were finally closed over the past two years. At the same time, the process within Borovo stands stagnantly right where it was two years ago - the restructuring proposal prepared by KPMG clearly didn't meet the expectations of the relevant ministries.

However, on the other hand - when it comes to Borovo, no deadline was actually set in which the case should finally be closed, either through a new model of operational and financial restructuring, an attempt at privatisation or the worst case scenario - bankruptcy.

Although bankruptcy is something to be avoided like the plague in Croatia, there are those working within the ministries of economy and finance who see this very solution as the best one. In their opinion, the projections from KPMG's proposal fail to offer what is needed, and instead only work to postpone the solution of the problem and prolong Borovo's limbo and uncertainty. This is because it starts from some basic recommendations for improving business, such as reducing overhead costs and the number of employees, changing the production profile and focusing on more profitable programmes, and finally finding a good strategic partner. According to the assessment of the relevant ministries, Borovo will continue to remain in a difficult state in which it will hardly manage to attract any serious investors seeking a safe project.

For this reason, as has since been learned, it was requested that KPMG define much more clearly what it would to to ensure and enable a long-term solution without bankruptcy threats and then to find a strategic partner, and that the programme be organised so that it can receive the approval of the European Commission (EC). That something is simply not right with the existing solution was also confirmed by the President of the Board of Borovo, Gordana Odor, who said the following:

"KPMG prepared a restructuring plan one year ago, but it hasn't yet been adopted by the relevant ministry and will have to be refined by KMPG. The main complaint of the ministry is the lack of a strategic partner that would be a guarantee for the survival of Borovo,'' said Gordana Odor, adding that when it comes to Borovo, the bigger picture must be looked at.

First, as she explained, it's actually very difficult to find a private investor who is ready to take over Borovo with all of its accompanying problematic buildings on an area spanning 13 hectares. This is full of unresolved property-legal disputes that are being conducted on the territories of both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

According to the current restructuring plan, the state should recapitalise Borovo with 92 million kuna, which would close its existing liabilities to the banks. The share capital of Borovo is at the level of 316.7 million kuna. The assessment of the Management Board and KPMG was that this would enable better positions for the search for strategic partners and investments in the modernisation of Borovo's production, which normally also takes place on machines from 1940, and for which the company could finally rely on European Union funds. In Borovo, they're convinced that, once the company is relieved of all of its loan debts, it can meet all of its obligations and conduct its business properly.

According to the first data for 2022, revenues compared to the previous year have increased by 2% and are at the level of 10 million euros. However, business expenses grew much more. On average, total material costs increased by 23%, wage costs by 6.5%, and the largest increase of 100% refers to gas, while energy costs increased somewhat more slowly, due to government measures, by 20%.

All other input resources had growth trends of 10 to 20 percent, especially leather. An additional cost was a 12% increase in workers' wages, which is a significant increase for a labour-intensive activity, which also increased costs of about 5 million kuna. Overall, the increase in costs resulted in a loss of 9 million kuna for Borovo.

"Under these circumstances, we had to adjust our operations and we placed the emphasis on optimising procurement, production, storage and transportation costs, with the goal of maintaining existing liquidity," explained Gordana Odor. As for the number of employees, currently their number has fallen to the lowest level so far - 563.

"Borovo is aware that in times of crisis it has to make business adjustments for the conditions ahead, but we certainly need help and the involvement of the state, which we have been talking about for several years now,'' concluded Gordana Odor, noting that we're still talking about the largest employer in the entire Vukovar area which employs mostly women, and that they have spent most of their working lives working for Borovo and have no other qualifications.

The problems faced by Borovo will be on the agenda of the CERP Board of Directors as early as next month, in order to consider another extension of the guarantees for loans that the company has in the amount of 6.1 million euros each, for which the state's shares in Podravka, Koncar and HT are pledged as insurance.

However, before that, representatives of the Management Board, KPMG, CERP and the relevant ministries will need to sit down together in order to shed light on the current ambiguities surrounding the preparation of the final proposal on which the future of the company depends entirely. The reason that no expedient solution has been found for many years lies in the fact that Borovo is not only a commercial and economic issue, but is also burdened by the political context and inter-ethnic relations between Croats and Serbs, as well as conflicting relations between local and state authorities, which further complicates matters.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

March the 15th, 2023 - The Croatian Building.hr platform aims to allow for the proper networking of domestic companies within the construction sector, and soon it will be made possible to leave reviews.

As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian construction sector has recently been richer for the introduction of the specialised Croatian Building.hr platform, which was conceived as a database of information, contacts and other valuable and relevant content for all kinds of companies working within the construction sector.

The main goal of the Croatian Building.hr platform is to network and connect domestic construction companies, help them find adequate and verified partners and subcontractors, speed up and simplify many of the administrative and other processes, and thus contribute to the stronger development of the construction industry across the Republic of Croatia.

Behind the idea of this innovative and helpful new platform is a team led by Maja Borovina Frankic, an economist with extensive experience in the construction sector through involvement in the family business, Spegra, which is otherwise a leader in the niche of rehabilitation works.

The Croatian Building.hr platform was created as a response to long-standing problems that the domestic construction sector has been and still is continuously struggling with, and which have been particularly emphasised over the last few years - a lack of skilled labour, unsystematic data, the unavailability of information, weak B2B cooperation, the disproportion of supply and demand with regard to geographical location(s), and significant lagging behind digital trends that are the norm elsewhere in Europe and the world.

"The idea is almost ten years old now, it has been being intensively developed for the last four of those years, and at the beginning of 2023 it finally saw the light of day. It was conceived as an exclusive, digital ecosystem of the entire market, where both private and public investors, companies regardless of their size and activity, independent experts, various institutions and the like can all find their place, and what they have in common is their participation in the construction market. By increasing cooperation between these companies, we can reduce and eliminate the difficulties we all face together," explained Maja Borovina Frankic.

In just over two months since its launch, the Croatian Building.hr platform already has more than 500 registered companies, and in the future it will also have the option of reviewing those companies. They will act as an information platform, for example, for announcing new materials that have arrived on the Croatian market and new trends taking place on foreign markets.

"The feedback we've been getting has been very good. By developing the platform and registering an increasing number of market stakeholders, the users of the platform enables easily accessible and systematic data, the easier finding of business entities, the realisation of B2B cooperation, job advertisements and marketing,'' concluded Maja Borovina Frankic.

For more, check out our dedicated news section.

March the 12th, 2023 - Izlet hr (izlet.hr) is the very first Croatian field trip app designed for schools and their children. Launched by the Split-based Eklata agency, this new tool will likely be a hit with schools.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the global coronavirus pandemic contributed to the creation of the very first Croatian application for designing school trips, with which the Split agency Eklata alleviated the problem of a lack of staff and accelerated the process of selecting one-day trips for schoolchildren.

The real breakthrough of the Izlet hr application, which has been on the market since the beginning of this school year, will show itself in just a few days, because the beginning of spring is the traditional time for arranging one-day trips for schoolchildren, and by the beginning of the next school year, a version for multi-day trips, including high school graduates, will be ready.

"We've had this idea for a long time now, because we wanted to speed up and simplify the procedures for designing school trips and offers that will meet demand. As we always strive to be innovative and follow trends in our work, and we've digitised our business to a great extent, a mobile application was a natural sequence. The coronavirus pandemic gave us time to develop our product, which took us about one year, and the app has been available since last autumn.

There was also a trial period in which Izlet hr proved to be very useful and easy to use, but now schools are starting to plan school trips and as such we expect full implementation,'' said Jurica Glavina, the owner of Eklata. The web and mobile application Izlet hr is free and available to everyone, and through it, teachers, parents, and students can independently create an offer for a school trip somewhere in Croatia.

This skips the need for any lengthy communication between the agency and the user as the application is fully automated and the agency's employees are involved only at the last step.

Until then, users can specifically enter all the necessary information about their desired excursion into the app, from the number of passengers and the desired destination to the topic of the trip and the specific content they're interested in, with an overview of service prices.

"After deciding which county you want to go to, you can choose whether the excursion will be out in nature or whether the students want to see cultural and historical sights, visit galleries and museums... You can decide on one or a combination of different content, for example, you can add lunch to the offer. You simply click or "drag&drop" your selections, enter the number of students and you'll immediately find out the price and terms of payment,'' explained Glavina.

With the very next click, an offer is requested, which the app generates independently and which arrives by email in an instant, and by clicking ''accept'', a team of tourism workers, pedagogues and educators start preparing an educational and fun school trop, so it's actually a fully tailor-made service.

Mirko Vukusic from the Split-based company Banica Trade is responsible for the creation of the application, and he took special care to create a maximally simple interface which will be attractive and easy for all generations who decide on school trips. The next step is an expanded application for excursions, which is expected this September, with the beginning of the next school year, but Glavina added that it is a product that can be modified for all other group trips. Eklata doesn't intend to offer this product to other agencies, but will instead use the application for its own services.

Izleti hr has begun work in the first year since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in which the old dynamics of organising school trips are expected to return, although this year will also be challenging due to rising prices and a lack of workers in the sector.

"During the pandemic, many agencies changed things, there are fewer bus operators, and prices have risen, and all of this will affect traffic," concluded Glavina.

For more, check out our news section.

March the 1st, 2023 - The Croatian company Infobip has been presenting its brand new technological solution, Call Link, at the largest technology fair - MWC Barcelona.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the remarkable Croatian company Infobip, the world's most well-connected cloud communication platform, has launched a new and innovative video calling customer support technology to enable businesses to resolve their queries faster and reduce waiting times. This brand new solution, called Call Link, was presented at the largest mobile technology fair MWC in Barcelona.

Infobip's Call Link is designed for the needs of companies with a large number of customer inquiries, such as telecommunications and utility companies, as well as electronic equipment manufacturers, and is the simplest way for agents to establish live voice or video calls with their customers.

When customer experience is critical to business success, companies need to quickly and efficiently resolve their customers' queries. According to the results of a survey conducted by CRM platform HubSpot, 90 percent of users believe that a response time of 10 minutes or less is extremely important when they have an inquiry. However, companies often fail to meet customer expectations and multiply their calls to several different agents, which increases the waiting time. Call Link eliminates all of these problems.

Using a simple web link, customer service or technical service agents can automatically transfer written chat inquiries to voice or video calls. The Call Link solution generates a unique link, thanks to which the user doesn't have to install additional applications, which then improves their overall experience.

Call Link, which is already available to interested companies, removes the need for lengthy interactions between agents and customers, allowing companies to connect with their customers anywhere, anytime. Agents can share the link through any available channel, including WhatsApp, SMS and email, either via computer or mobile. With users increasingly using apps like WhatsApp, this new solution reflects the Croatian company Infobip's broader strategy to help businesses connect with their customers through the channels they want, at the time(s) they want.

Infobip's new tech offers several applications for businesses that want to improve their overall customer experience, increase retention and reduce their operating costs. In addition, it enables real-time status determination, where users can explain their queries via video call and customer support agents can fix those highlighted problems instantly. Such remote support reduces overall costs and the environmental impact of in-person visits to the user.

"Thanks to the Call Link solution, agents of companies that want to improve the experience of their users can very quickly and efficiently eliminate difficulties and solve problems, and at the same time shorten waiting times, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. In addition, since with the aforementioned solution they can generate as many video links as necessary, companies can smoothly increase their capacities and meet customer demand even during the busiest hours without difficulty. Based on information from clients who already use our product, we know that such synchronised communication helps them to process more user inquiries in a shorter time and thus not only increase productivity, but also achieve close communication with their end users, during which they will satisfy their needs in a practical and unobtrusive way,'' said Adrian Benic, Infobip's Chief Product Officer.

“Furthermore, Call Link provides businesses of various industries and sizes with affordable voice and video support that they wouldn't otherwise be able to use given the infrastructure requirements. This product is a testament to the Croatian company Infobip's unwavering commitment to being a complete multi-channel communication platform for everyone,'' concluded Benic.

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February the 21st, 2023 - The Rudjer Boskovic Institute is no stranger to invention and innovation, and they've now been busy delving into the waters of developing nanostructures for the creation of a "laboratory on a chip".

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the remarkable scientists from the Rudjer Boskovic Institute (IRB), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Science and Mathematics (PMF) and the Catalan Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from Barcelona, have developed nanostructures that could be used in new generation diagnostic devices.

The resulting nanostructures combine exceptional stability with the ability to detect molecules at very low concentrations.

The high technological and industrial demand for higher quality materials and their derivatives led to the development of materials at the nanoscale level. Such materials with improved properties are used in numerous fields, including medicine, ecology, industry, and the list goes on.

The development of sensors and diagnostic devices is moving in the direction of reducing their overall dimensions, with the aim of making the so-called lab on a chip, i.e. small, portable devices that perform tasks for which an entire laboratory used to be required.

Such devices, for example, would enable doctors to conduct various different diagnostic tests when with the patient (usually referred to as point-of-care testing), wherever the patient might be at the time the tests are performed. Small and portable sensors must be long-term stable, regardless of the conditions, and they must also have high sensitivity, in order to ensure the quality of the detection of whatever is being sought at the time.

Therefore, scientists from Zagreb and Barcelona created sensor elements that meet both conditions. The Rudjer Boskovic Institute's talented team consisted of Matej Bubas, Ivana Fabijanic, Vesna Janicki and Jordi Sancho Parramon.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

January the 24th, 2023 - Despite being founded half a decade ago, the newly updated VeeMee platform is coming soon, and it aims to be the largest web platform for the sale of Croatian food yet.

As Josipa Ban/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the VeeMee platform, founded five years ago with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of domestic agricultural production, should be upgraded by the end of this year and thus become the largest market place, or online store of food produced in all of Croatia. This was announced by Marko Kozjak, the co-founder and director of VeeMee.

VeeMee has brought together more than thousands of Croatian food and agricultural producers, as well as some from Greece and Spain, and by the end of this year, Kozjak pointed out, all of them should have a unique online place to sell their products. The director of VeeMee explained that his main motive for starting the platform, which should be the largest in Croatia when it is launched, is the chaos that currently reigns strong in the online sale of local food.

"Just as an example, if someone wants to buy kale from a Croatian producer today, it can get extremely complicated for them. When they enter kale in the search engine, they'll get thousands of pieces of information about kale, but it will be difficult to find the actual producer, that is, the person from Croatia selling it.

VeeMee was conceived as a Google of sorts, but designed for people shopping for local food. When a consumer enters, again let's say kale, into our search engine, they will be able to select a region and get an overview of kale producers from that area, so they'll be able to buy their desired food easily and directly online.

Therefore, VeeMee's goal is to centralise the web shop, to unite manufacturers in one single place, because now they're scattered around and so often invisible to consumers," explained Kozjak. Currently, he stated, they're working on upgrading the VeeMee platform, on payment solutions and organising logistics.

"We want to enable more logistics options. We want to offer a solution to the route and cost of delivery to the small producers, and to the large ones the establishment of a central warehouse through which their sales would go," he said.

In addition to all of the above, for existing users who have a producer identity (PID) on the VeeMee platform, web sales would be a bonus as the price of the packages they currently pay for wouldn't increase, revealed Kozjak, adding that by launching a digital market place, their goal is to attract new, small producers who are want to carry out more web sales.

The additional competitiveness of the VeeMee platform is precisely the price, because the premium package paid by producers on the VeeMee platform is currently 300 euros per year, and when the market place, i.e. online sales, comes to life, the price will remain the same. VeeMee's solution should also increase internet sales achieved by Croatian agricultural products, which are currently very low, and which even the state platform Trznica.hr/Market.hr, launched back during the coronavirus pandemic, failed to increase.

''By setting up the VeeMee web shop, peoples' orders will arrive via SMS, WhatsApp or email, and the manufacturer will then have to confirm it,'' explained the co-founder of VeeMee, who, together with his former partner Nikola Vid, launched the first neutral identification of origin (PID) and thus made it possible (through a QR code) for customers to digitally check the product and manufacturer, i.e. where the products are coming from and what path the food they're planning consume has taken to arrive to them.

More than 25 thousand tonnes of food is ''sitting'' behind that QR code, which allows customers to easily check their food's origin and traceability. It is precisely this concept that gives them a sense of security because they know where their food originates and what path it has taken before arriving at their doorstep. The manufacturers, through marketing campaigns run by VeeMee, get to enjoy more visibility, and suppliers get a verified manufacturer and traceability of their goods.

"Last year, our visibility on social media increased by 36 percent to 700,000 people," Kozjak pointed out. In addition, he added, their entire concept contributes to socially useful goals, such as reducing the amount of wasted food and greenhouse gas emissions.

"With smart logistics, we save more than a thousand tonnes of food annually from being discarded, and we reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by that much," said Kozjak, emphasising that they're focused on the end result in everything they do, and the same will be true with the VeeMee web shop.

The company, whose primary goal is complete data transparency when it comes to domestic agricultural production, food traceability and increased production, finances all of its new projects from its own income.

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