CEED Serbia (Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development) organized a ‘B2B Event’ on April 10th and 11th in Zagreb, Croatia. The event included the participation of the growing Serbian companies aiming to connect with potential customers and partners in the EU market, and looking to gain insight about the business conditions in the markets of Croatia and Slovenia.

Group and individual business meetings were held, as participants had a unique opportunity to meet and network with potential partners and customers, and representatives of the relevant institutions and organizations in Croatia which support the development of the private sector. Participants obtained insight about all the necessary requirements of doing business in the EU from their Croatian and Slovenian counterparts.

The first day of the event was held at the offices of ‘CROMA’ (Croatian Managers Association), where Dr. Ante Babić, Secretary General of the Foreign Investor’s Council of Croatia gave a very informative lecture on Croatia’s business environment, administrative procedures and recent changes followed by EU accession. Representatives from ‘Deloitte’ and ‘Crowe Horwath’ Croatia presented an overview on legal and tax issues related to establishing new office in the EU. Participants from Serbia expressed their particular interest in various options of doing business in Croatia, with the purpose of identifying most favorable solution for their businesses. The second day of the event was held at the Hotel Palace in the center of Zagreb, attended by a large number of companies and organizations from Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia. Mr. Damir Novinić, Managing Director of the Croatian Agency for Investments and Competitiveness opened the conference with a presentation on investment climate in Croatia. Mr. Novinić provided valuable information about Croatia’s support mechanism aimed at potential investors, as well as practical guidance and advice about entering this market. During a panel discussion and a B2B session that followed, participants had the opportunity to learn about the first-hand experiences from their Croatian and Slovenian counterparts, operating successfully in the market for many years. B2B sessions organized and facilitated by CEED team, gave Serbian participants the unique opportunity to meet potential partners and clients, and establish connections in the new market.