A competition worth 23 million kuna is being prepared for innovators and startups

In Croatia, too few innovations are commercialized, said Horvat, announcing that the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts will announce two competitions in the coming days.

The Minister of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Darko Horvat, announced on Thursday at the opening of the international conference “Innovations, Technologies, Education, and Management” competitions for funds that should help in the commercialization of innovations.

In Croatia, too few innovations are commercialized, said Horvat, announcing that the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts will announce two competitions in the coming days.

The first, worth 22.8 million kuna, is intended for innovators and startups. Following it will be a competition with a much larger allocation of funds that will assist innovative solutions with the potential for commercialization, that is, entrepreneurs who will be able to bring their innovative idea to a final product, said Horvat.

Highlighting the problem of weak connectivity between the academic community and vocational education with the real sector, he announced that the Ministry will sign an agreement next week with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka on the implementation of practical classes conducted by that faculty, for the entire area of Croatia.

– The Faculty of Economics in Rijeka has contracts with about 200 companies with which it connects the academic community and the real sector in educational content, and students conduct the practical part of their classes in those companies, said Horvat, emphasizing that more than 85 percent of students who do internships in those companies end up working there, so there is no production of personnel for the Employment Service.

By the end of June, Horvat announced the signing of an agreement with the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, which aims to make the first step towards the educational system that the southernmost German federal state has.

– At the recommendation of the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, we will engage several consultants who will transform the dual education system in two pilot projects, one of which would be in Međimurje County, he said.

Thus, already this year, the needs for the workforce and enrollment quotas will be determined in that county. Horvat hopes that through these two projects, he will convince the public and participants in the education system of the correctness of such a model and that it will begin to be applied throughout Croatia from the autumn of 2017.