Can industry develop in Croatia, like in Spain, alongside tourism?

The Split-Dalmatia County ranks at the bottom of the Adriatic counties in terms of GDP per capita, and the pandemic has further highlighted all the weaknesses and uncertainties of tourism as the main economic branch in this county. Participants in a round table titled Sustainability of Industrial Development in Split-Dalmatia County, held at the premises of AD Plastika, discussed how to enhance other economic activities besides tourism and whether it is possible to develop the industrial sector in synergy with tourism.

Marinko Došen, CEO of AD Plastika, Irena Weber, Director General of HUP, Alen Voloder, CEO of Cemex Croatia, Mislav Bezmalinović, CEO of Sardina from Postira, Zvonimir Akrap, member of the Management Board of OTP Bank, Edita Maretić Dimlić, Director of DES, Branimir Lela, Vice Dean for Science at FESB, and Boris Vrdoljak, Director of S+B Systemtechnik spoke about how to enhance other economic activities and whether it is possible to develop the industrial sector in synergy with tourism.

Irena Weber emphasized that the main advantage of this area lies in its enormous intellectual capital and excellent university and educational infrastructure, which provides a sufficient number of necessary professionals for industrial occupations to the labor market.

Danijela Milić, Director General of the Croatian Association of Managers and Entrepreneurs – CROMA, noted that excellent industrial companies from the Split-Dalmatia County are unjustly overlooked in public discourse, and news about tourist overnight stays and investments in tourist facilities dominate the economic narrative.

Investors Need Conditions

Marinko Došen, CEO of AD Plastik Group, believes in the development of industry and that industrial production can, just like in Spain, develop alongside tourism. “The automotive industry has completely transformed and improved the economy of Slovakia. It is a country with just slightly more inhabitants than Croatia. It has changed in terms of advanced technologies, knowledge, and everything else. Today, the share of the automotive industry in Slovakia’s total GDP is equal to the share of the entire Croatian industry in our GDP. There is interest from investors; they just need to be provided with the right conditions,” said Marinko Došen.

Mislav Bezmalinović, CEO of Sardina from Postira, and Alen Voloder, CEO of Cemex Croatia, spoke about how they eliminated the negative impact of industrial plants operating in developed tourist destinations.

“Although in 2013, thanks to the construction of a new plant, we met all the necessary standards regarding unpleasant odors during fish processing and wastewater, we invested an additional two million euros to completely eliminate that environmental impact because our fellow citizens live from tourism,” revealed Mislav Bezmalinović.

Alen Voloder disclosed how they have effectively solved the problem of cement dust and are now investing significant funds in obtaining energy from renewable sources. Because he believes in the future of industry, Boris Vrdoljak returned from Germany and opened a plant in Dugopolje, founding the company S+B Systemtechnik.