This year’s MEETING G2 – Gradimo poslovne mostove, Meeting G2 – Let’s build business bridges is to take place on November 4th until the 6th, 2019, in Zagreb.
Organised to connect the businesses of Croats in Croatia and the diaspora, the event expects over 200 participants, out of which 70 are expected to be successful international business people of Croatian origin. The participants will be able to learn, among other things, about the successes of the Canadian Croatian Business Network (CCBN), as well as the challenges for Croatian entrepreneurs in Austria.
CCBN has been established to improve and strengthen the relationships between the Canadian and Croatian business people, who wish to expand the potential of business cooperation between the two countries. One of the participants in the panel will be Joe Bašić, who is the president of the CCBN, and he will present the work of the network and their successes at the conference.
In the last nine years, since the network was established, the commerce between Canada and Croatia has gone up more than five-fold (from 127 million kuna in 2010 to 635 million kuna in 2019), that made Croatia one of Canada’s leading partners and the biggest one in South-Eastern Europe.
Joe Bašić stated that the members of the CCBN are successful and renowned business people, experts, and entrepreneurs living and working in Croatia, but who have the direct experience of working in Canada. That experience allows them to fully understand the obstacles that might appear and ensures the expertise and the knowledge needed to overcome those barriers and succeed. He believes that further growth in commerce will happen, and especially after the CETA agreement (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) has been signed, which removes those barriers in various sectors.
Denis Rukavina from Metronet, John Gasparac from PWC, Adrian Beljo from Edward Bernays University College for Communication Management and Dennis Zovko from Importanne Resort Dubrovnik will join Joe Bašić at the panel to discuss the concrete, successful examples of cooperation, as well as the specificities in the way of doing business. They will also offer their opinions on how to help entrepreneurs from both countries to improve cooperation.
A panel organised by the Association of the Croatian Entrepreneurs in Austria will discuss the experiences and challenges of working in Austria.
Several successful Croatian entrepreneurs from demanding sectors, such as IT, law, the hospitality industry and consulting, will offer their thoughts and advice. These include Mario Harapin (Delikro.at), Domagoj Dolinsek (Planradar), Bernard Batinić (Heptabit), Tomislav Stipic (Artus), Tanja Škorić (Startaparat) and Lucija Veličan (Talentarium).
Niko Ilić, the President of the Association, said that Austria is a robust market and that the possibilities for Croatian companies on that market are enormous. That’s why the Association is trying to connect the two economies and make it easier for Croatian entrepreneurs to work in Austria. There are 150 members in the Association currently, mostly coming from the construction, metals, tourist, IT, and hospitality sectors, which have the best results. He added that they’re also proud that the members of the Association still work actively on the Croatian market as well.
This year’s Meeting G2 conference, just like every one before it, is organised under the auspices of the Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who will also speak at the opening of the conference.
On the first day of the event, the presentation of the successful Croatian franchises will be held, as well as a pitch session for the startups. The second day will focus on five panel-discussions that will also focus on the successes by the Croatian designers on the international markets, successful Croatian exporters, and current events in the IT world. In addition to the panels, the participants will be able to get to hear several inspirational business stories, including that of Ivan Mrvoš and his smart benches, and Hrvoje Bušić and Tomislav Anadolac, the duo that makes the best gin in the world.
Božo Skoko, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb, will discuss the development of the identity and the brand of Croatia, while Natko Vlahović will discuss the importance of the Croatian chairing of the European Union.
You can find additional information on the conference website and the YouTube channel.
