Zagreb Becomes the Capital of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Europe 2020

The Congress of Women Entrepreneurs of Southeast Europe will be held in Zagreb on International Women’s Day, March 8 next year, under the patronage of the President of the Republic Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and the City of Zagreb, it was highlighted on Monday at a press conference in the Zagreb City Administration.

At the Congress, organized by the Virtual Women’s Entrepreneurial Center www.poduzetnica.hr and the City of Zagreb, more than 600 women entrepreneurs from Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Albania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Croatia will be present.

The Head of the City Office for Economy, Labor, and Entrepreneurship and Chair of the Congress Organizing Committee Mirka Jozić stated that their goal is to highlight the need to encourage women to engage in entrepreneurship, given that the situation is such that they are marginalized in the business world.

‘In Croatia, we currently have about 25 percent of companies owned by women, and more than 50 percent of such companies are in Zagreb. This is the result of the continuous work of the Zagreb City Administration in promoting entrepreneurship in general, but also in promoting women’s entrepreneurship, through which programs, seminars, conferences, workshops, and exchanges of women’s experiences are specifically organized,’ said Jozić.

She emphasized that they want to motivate as many women as possible to enter the entrepreneurial waters, to run their own businesses, to be independent, and to show that they can do it just as well as men.

The conceptual founder and leader of the Virtual Women’s Entrepreneurial Center Sanela Dropulić emphasized that their goal is for Zagreb to be the central place of events and gatherings for women entrepreneurs every year on Women’s Day. She announced that in 2020, the Congress of Women Entrepreneurs of Southeast Europe will become the Congress of Women Entrepreneurs of Europe, and Zagreb will be marked on the European map as the capital of women’s entrepreneurship.

Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić emphasized that the Congress should provide answers on how to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship and how to reduce discrimination against women in work and employment.

He stated that women are more successful than men and added that the City of Zagreb already has something to be proud of before the Congress, as two women lead the Zagreb Holding (CEO Ana Stojić Deban and Management Board member Daniela Franić), and the City Office for Economy is also led by a woman (Mirka Jozić). He urged other local government units to follow this path.