This year we have gathered business people from more than 20 countries around the world!
Speakers and panelists from the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Australia, South Korea, the United States, Argentina, Poland, Latvia, Israel, Ireland and a dozen other countries participated in this year’s Meeting G2.6 conference.
This year has really proved to be challenging. Navigating through the “new normal”, it was very demanding to design, produce and collate the live view and video recorded material for the G2 Conference.
During the two days of the conference, we were treated to dozens of excellent presentations and panels, facilitated by leading Croatian experts from the IT industry, state institutions and representatives of successful Croatian companies – local and abroad.
Key outtakes for Croatian business were as follows: Croatian companies should focus on four main points for success: draw inspiration from Croatian positive examples in the business world; speed to innovate in order to adapt to the changing market needs; excellence based on quality products and services; and exports based on industries where demand and supply is sustainable and where Croatia can be competitive in pricing and quality.
Other points of interested were as follows:
IT sector as key driver of economic recovery
At one of the most attractive panels “Stronger than coronavirus”, which was attended by representatives of Microblink, Infinum, Agrivi, AD Plastik, Elda and Geolux, participants stressed the importance of the IT industry for the branding of Croatia in general – international success of Croatian companies in the IT sector means growth for all other companies in Croatia because the country’s image is strengthened and opportunities are opened to attract foreign investment. The paradigm is changing that Croatia is only an excellent tourist destination, but it is also becoming a nursery for world changing IT companies The IT sector will continue to grow and Croatia has a chance to become the Silicon Valley of Europe.
It is the right time to return to Croatia
For those who want to return to Croatia, now is the right time because the state has adopted a number of measures such as easier acquisition of citizenship. Those who want to change something should not wait but return to Croatia and try to make changes themselves. Also, efforts to facilitate remote work and a more flexible visa regime with individual countries can enable the Croatian diaspora to stay longer in Croatia during the year.
Digital nomads and advantages of Croatia as a destination
Croatia needs to adopt a strategy for regulating the work and residence of digital nomads and form a clear package for attracting them to Croatia. We should not focus only on digital nomads, but orient ourselves more broadly because many countries are changing the legislation on teleworking, which makes Croatia an interesting destination for everyone. Croatia has perhaps the best lifestyle in Europe, which many returnees have already recognized.
We must learn from the experiences of other countries
Croatia is not the only country in the world with a large diaspora, so we need adopt new and more efficient methods of connecting with our diaspora. Learnings from successful countries such as: Israel, Ireland, Poland, Latvia should be followed. These countries have many examples of successful policies and strategies that helped them re-connect with their communities in the diaspora around the world.
These countries have shown openness to co-operation at MG2.6, and Israel has even announced that – based on the Croatian MG2.6 conference – it will soon try to organize an international conference for all ministries and government offices for the diaspora globally.
In the end, we can conclude with satisfaction that this year we succeeded in our mission of connecting Croats from abroad with Croatian entrepreneurs. With this in mind, we will soon enter 2021, when we will, we hope and believe, again manage to organize a live gathering, at the seventh Meeting G2 conference.
