A Croatian delegation led by Prime Minister Plenković visited China recently, meeting with Huawei’s leadership for Europe there. The Chinese technology company, one of the largest in the world, is interested in a partnership in the digitalisation process of Croatia’s public administration system, reports Večernji List on November 10, 2018.
Prime Minister Plenković confirmed at a government session that in China he met with the key state-owned companies in the shipbuilding, road, bridge, railways and wind power plant sector, adding that all these companies were interested in cooperation with Croatia.
The government and the Administration Ministry did not disclose further details about talks with Huawei, but unofficial sources say that the company’s leaders had allegedly expressed their wish to move their centre from Belgrade to Zagreb. Further contacts with Huawei representatives will be done through the Directorate for Modernisation of Public Administration (e-Croatia), which deals with the digitalisation of internal operations of the state administration.
According to unofficial information, at the meeting with Huawei, the government delegation was also offered the possibility of educating Croatian IT experts in China. “Details of the co-operation are to be elaborated, but they have offered us the possibility to send students to China for further education,” said a source.
Prime Minister Plenković pointed out that Huawei was similar to Microsoft in its size and influence within the ICT sector, adding that their interest in the digitalisation of Croatian public administration would be of interest to the Administration Ministry, which is responsible for the process. The Administration Ministry did not want to discuss the issue, saying it was too early.
“The market of one billion and 400 million people wants to open much more than before and that is a great chance for the Croatian economy. That is why I am pleased that an economic forum was organised in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, with more than 100 Chinese partners and 30 Croatian businesses,” said Plenković.
When it comes to digitalisation of public administration system, Croatia is stagnating and the European statistics show that Croatia is ranked 25th among 28 member states. Finland and Estonia are at the top of the rankings, followed by Denmark and Spain, while the only countries behind Croatia are Greece, Hungary and Romania.
For more on relations between Croatia and China, click here.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Iva Puljić-Šego).
