The Investment Forum of Northwestern Croatia is taking place in Bjelovar, an event where representatives of local entrepreneurs, local government, and state institutions discuss the creation of a stimulating investment environment and the initiation of new production investments.
The event promotes Lider invest – a project through which Lider recognizes, selects, and awards the best production investments for the third consecutive year in the categories of large, medium, and small investments, as well as those that have particularly contributed to exports, employment, sustainable development, and environmental protection.
The Investment Forum of Northwestern Croatia was opened by Miodrag Šajatović, the editor-in-chief of Lider and a member of the expert committee of Lider invest.
Miodrag Šajatović
– It is shown that the awarded companies from the first two years are successfully operating and exporting, and that we have not had a single failure. The message is that it is possible, but you must be excellent to succeed with an investment in Croatia. It is also shown that investment opportunities are largely limited by macroeconomic circumstances. In every system, you have a certain percentage of successful ones, but the system must be such that an average capable entrepreneur can and must invest in Croatia – Šajatović said in his opening remarks.
Message to all entrepreneurs
Dario Hrebak, the mayor of Bjelovar, also greeted the attendees and stated that his administration is particularly striving to be a friend of entrepreneurship and that every investment is equally valuable to them.
– The four largest companies in Bjelovar will invest over 100 million euros, and our message to all entrepreneurs is – come to Bjelovar, invest, your kuna is worth more here than in any other city. We will hold investors like a drop of water in the palm – said Hrebak, who started implementing the tax-free city model at the beginning of this year, under which investors are exempt from communal contributions and fees, and under which the right to build and purchase land can be realized for one kuna per square meter.
The Lider invest project and details of the competition to which investments can be nominated from March 15 are presented by Slavko Krajcar, a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and a member of the expert committee of Lider invest.
On the structure of GDP with an emphasis on the importance of investments and the position of Bjelovar-Bilogora County in this context, Zvonimir Savić, director of the Sector for Financial Institutions, Business Information, and Economic Analysis of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, will speak, while Zdenko Lucić, director of the Agency for Investments and Competitiveness, will present on investments and the investment climate.
The Investment Forum concludes with a round table on the topic of creating a positive investment environment in Northwestern Croatia, where opinions will be exchanged by Dario Hrebak, the mayor of Bjelovar, Ivana Piščević Jurković, director of the Technology Park Bjelovar, Dario Biškup, director of Coffeeina, and Ružica Sabljo, director of Interijera Sabljo.
