Croatians from abroad to gather for Meeting G2.5 in Zagreb

Meeting G2

ZAGREB, 11 September 2019 – The 5th edition of Meeting G2 – Building business bridges – which connects Croatians abroad with people and business opportunities in Croatia – will be held at the congress centre Forum Zagreb from 4-6 November 2019.  

The conference, which aims to connect Croatia’s homeland and emigration and to help strengthen the Diaspora’s investment in the homeland, has attracted more than 220 successful business people with Croatan heritage from 27 countries around the world over the past four editions with more than 750 participants also. 

Meeting G2.5 is held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović. 

In addition to the existing programme, consisting of a series of panels and networking sessions, this year’s conference organisers are also bringing new content. Special emphasis is placed on presenting successful Croatian franchises and a programme called “A Moment for Inspiration”. Namely, there are currently about 200 franchise systems operating in Croatia with approximately 17,000 employees, in about 1,000 locations. However, there is room for progress because, out of the total number of franchises on the Croatian market, only 12% of them are of Croatian origin.

“‘A Moment for Inspiration’ will feature some short, inspirational business stories that will be able to be followed between panels. We continue to work towards the same goal, namely networking of Croatian-born businesspeople from all parts of the world, increasing the investment of homeland emigrants, supporting export-oriented Croatian companies through connecting with Croatian chambers and Croatian businesspeople around the world, and certainly stopping emigration. I would like to emphasise the fact that, although rated as excellent for life, Croatia has become one of top three countries in the world with more inhabitants outside the country than in the country. This clearly underscores the importance of such integration because we have considerable, untapped economic and development potential,” said G2 Meeting Association president Josip Hrgetić.  

The first day of the Conference is usually reserved for “Who’s Who in G2?”, A programme that offers all participants the opportunity to briefly share and exchange contacts with others, as well as a “Pitch Session” where several Croatian startups will be introduced to raise investments. In the introductory session of successful Croatian franchises, participants will meet Surf’n’Fries (fries in specially designed packaging), Direct Booker (IT sector), Place2go (publishing / tourism), Business Cafe (connecting businesses) and Body Creator (weight loss and body care ).

The second day will feature five panel discussions to discuss current developments in the IT sector in Croatia, Croats and fashion, exceptional Croatian exporters, as well as a familiarisation with the situation and challenges of Croatian entrepreneurs in Austria and Canada. The panel will feature more than 30 participants, renowned Croatian businessmen from the country and the world, as well as representatives of state and local institutions.

Between the panels, inspirational business stories will be presented, including from Ivan Mrvos from Include and his world-renowned smart benches and the duo Hrvoje Busic and Tomislav Anadolac who created “Old Pilot’s,” the best gin in the world, made from Croatian ingredients.

More information about the Conference is available on the official website here. All those interested can register here. And visit the YouTube channel.