“Croatia in the Eurozone and Schengen – light in the tunnel of global recession and insecurity” was the theme of the “Svijet u 2023” conference as a public presentation of the fourth Croatian edition of The Economist’s annual global magazine “World Ahead”.
The Diplomatic Business Conference was held at the Croatian National Bank, and in addition to the interview of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, along with the traditional diplomatic panel, some of the conference’s key speeches were given by Governor Boris Vujčić, longtime director of The Economist Joan Hoey, and recognized world economist Klas Eklund. The hosts of the conference, Ivan Vrdoljak and Robert Čoban, greeted the gathered guests, and in his live interview at the conference, Prime Minister Plenković pointed out that we are in the year of the Government’s delivery, which is marked by the completion of the Pelješko Bridge, the entry into Schengen and the introduction of the Euro.
Robert Čoban, CMC, Photo: Tomislav Smoljanović
Ivan Vrdoljak Livit, Photo: Tomislav Smoljanović
“I sent a joint letter with the Greek Prime Minister to the President of the European Council to once again support the granting of candidate status to BiH from the highest level. Croatia is continuously advocating for this, just as we fought for the candidate status for Ukraine in June. I don’t see why it should happen at the European Council, unless it happens on Thursday. We will be strongly “FOR”. To us, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a friendly, neighboring country with which we want to have the best possible relations, in which we want the Croats as a people to have early rights, and they will be equal the fastest if the whole country goes towards the EU on the reform path” – he answered foreign political questions from journalists during the conference Prime Minister Plenković.
PM Andrej Plenković
The governor of the Croatian National Bank, Boris Vujčić, pointed out that the introduction of the euro strengthens resistance to crises and positions Croatia among the most developed countries, and he commented on the euro coins that citizens can buy from 1 euro and said that they “go like halva”.
Governor of the Croatian National Bank, Boris Vujčić
At the traditional Diplomatic Panel, expectations and challenges in 2023 were discussed by H.E. Diana Helen Madunic, Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Simon Thomas OBE Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Ambassador of Azerbaijan H.E. Mr. Anar Imanov.
The long-time director at The Economist magazine, Joan Hoey, emphasized in her presentation that we are facing a sharp slowdown in the world economy in 2023, while the president of the Croatian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Mirna Marović, was very direct about the new business buzzword of sustainability – “Everyone is talking about sustainability, and few people truly understand it, and even fewer companies live sustainability. Sustainability means the transformation of all processes within the company – from the satisfaction and role of employees to the final suppliers in the supply chain. Sustainability means disruption, the same process disruption as digitization was. There are too many opportunities and money in the world for everything to remain on buzzwords and symbolic gestures. Don’t forget, what is good for the planet and people is also good for business.”
Robert Čoban,Joan Hoey, Boban Spasojević
