December 3, 2018 — Zadar will build three new “incubators” focused on creative industries, tech and honey in the coming years, according to Zadarski List.
The HRK 87 million-projects will be located within Zadar and its hinterlands, potentially boosting an economy highly reliant on tourism.
One development hub situated just outside the Old Town will include a “Creative Industry Center,” a HRK 24 million-entrepreneurial incubator meant for up to a dozen start-ups. About HRK 20 million of the funds to build the center came from the European Union.
The center will have all the usual amenities one expects: a co-working space, a sound studio, meeting rooms and even recording equipment to go along with a filming office.
The goal is to create a specialized incubator focused on the audio-visual industry and information technology, two sectors somewhat lacking in the county, according to Katarina Colić, the new director of the County Institute for the Development of Competencies, Innovation and Specialties.
The trifecta of projects will also include a Center for New Technologies in Murvica, a bit into Zadar’s hinterlands. It will specialize in metal processing, with another HRK 20 million of EU funding financing some of the HRK 38 million project.
It will provide workspaces, specialized equipment, business consulting and education for existing small and medium-sized companies in the metal processing sector.
The third and perhaps sweetest project is a a HRK 25 million center specializing in honey. It will focus on improving and expanding the uses of bees wax, pollen, jelly and honey for the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic purposes. It’ll include a filler, a wax processing system, laboratory and an exhibition space.
Zadar decades ago had a sizable industrial sector within its economy. While most of those firms disappeared during the 1990s war, few have risen up in their place, leaving the local population to make a living off of seasonal jobs and private accommodation rentals. This trio of projects hopes to fill some of that vacant space.
