As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of January, 2019, one of the most beautiful and well-preserved old Zagorje buildings, Bračak near Zabok, will officially become a real, ”angelic” building at the end of January, 2019.
On the 21st of January, the first office of the the World Bank Investment Forum of Business Angels (WBAF) in the European Union will be officially inaugurated at the Bračak palace. Bračak palace, which is 130 years old, will have a new function after playing the role of both a former children’s hospital and an energy centre.
Zabok’s beautiful palace will be transformed into the first academy for business angels in the Republic of Croatia, which will combine education with the field of elite tourism. Baybars Altuntaş, the president of the WBAF, holds several impressive titles. He is a highly successful Turkish investor, the vice president of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and a senior advisor to the elite program on the London Stock Exchange, a program designed to boost investment capacity for small and medium-sized investment companies who are the first to attract the capital of business angels.
“After Croatia, as a small country of only four million people, was able to compete in the World Cup until the finals, and showed that there were ”big” people, persistent and with big hearts, who have the type of quality needed for the work, I supported the idea of the prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County, Željko Kolar, that in Bračak, a palace boasting a rich history which, with the help of technology and knowledge turned into a very smart building, that WBAF should open its first office in the European Union there,” stated Altuntaş.
Renata Brkić, High Commissioner for WBAF Croatia says that the first service to be offered at Zabok’s Bračak palace will be the international QBAC Qualified Business Angels Certificate (QBAC). “The QBAC program has been run by the WBAF on the London Stock Exchange so far, and in cooperation with the office for Croatia, we’ve upgraded it with the elite tourism offer and we’ll offer it as QBAC Bootcamp Croatia on the global market,” said Brkić.
She stated that there is a market for 500,000 business angels for this service. “The first group will start off in May,” Brkić said. Željko Kolar, Prefect of Krapina-Zagorje County and the initiator of the opening of WBAF’s office in Croatia, says this project confirms the fact that the county is recognised as an open, competitive and business partner sector.
“In the first year, we want to create an entrepreneurial network of business angels not only from Croatia but also from EU countries, to educate investors according to qualified investment courses that we will prepare and identify good business opportunities that can be invested in this area,” noted Kolar.
He explained that the county in which the Zabok palace is located, Krapina-Zagorje, is the holder of the WBAF license and that the entrepreneurship centre of Krapina-Zagorje County will be in charge of the operational office for Croatia. Along with Kolar, the management of WBAF’s office is also the CEO of HUP (Croatian Employers’ Association) Davor Majetić, the assistant director of HZMO, Dražen Mršić, the managing director of Hanfa, Petar-Pierre Matek, as well as Renata Brkić, who states that WBAF is planning to open up a number of offices around the world this year. The first was opened last year in Tanzania.
This is the second in the Republic of Croatia. More offices to follow will be based in Taiwan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Macedonia, and Brazil. “WBAF, with the opening of this office, is providing Croatia with a chance to network in the world of investment,” added Brkić.
Make sure to stay up to date with more information on doing business in Croatia by following our dedicated business page.
Click here for the original article by Bernard Ivezic for Poslovni Dnevnik
