WE GREW TOGETHER

How satisfied are you today with the level of cooperation with the Croatian businesses? How good is this cooper ation? To what extent are German and Croatian companies linked through value chains and partnerships? — We are indeed more than satisfied. After all, more than half of our members are Croatian companies. Germany has in part benefited from the increased domestic demand in Croatia and the fact that Croatia is still emi nently dependant on imports to supply the demands of its tourism sector, for instance. There are numerous part nerships between German and Croatian companies, not only among our members. Nevertheless, we think that there is still a lot of potential that needs to be unlocked. Croatia, for example, could produce much more than it cur rently does. We do promote German economic interests and German com panies’ market entry, but a prosperous Croatian economy and society, and thriving Croatian companies are in our best interest as well.

How much did the Chamber's internal work organization change? How much did the volume and scope of work grow? — As I have mentioned before, Croatia’s accession to the EU has resulted in a big increase of the German companies’ in terest in its market and our employees did a great job providing all of them with, most importantly, services related to market entry, as well as valuable infor mation. This has probably set the bar a bit higher, and it seems to me that this bar still remains at the same height. Fur thermore, over the years, the Chamber has included other topics in its portfolio - for instance, the important topics like sustainable energy solutions and envi ronmental technologies. More specifically, this means that we promote and support the market entry of German small and medium enterprises special ized in renewable energy systems and energy efficiency solutions, and com panies specialized in technologies for protecting the environment and the climate. We have also launched a project which aim is to introduce the German model of dual vocational training in Cro atian schools, which is strongly backed by the Croatian Government, as well as the companies involved. The German dual education model combines theo retical education at vocational schools with on-the-job training in companies. We have an agile and energetic team of 14 people who cover all these topics and have experiences in Croatia and Germany, which has accordingly grown over the years.

What is the next challenge for you, as the Chamber's director, in terms of its development? — I consider the EU Council Presidency, which Croatia will assume in the first half of 2020 for the first time ever, and the German Presidency that immediately follows in the second half of the same year, as a big opportunity. We would be very pleased if Croatia would use the presidency to further strengthen the ties between the member states on the common internal market and to drive forward the development of both small and medium enterprises and big companies. There will be abundant op portunities in the energy sector, first and foremost, which is a field that our Chamber has specialized in over the

WE WOULD BE PLEASED IF CROATIA WOULD USE ITS EU COUNCIL PRESIDENCY IN 2020 TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE TIES BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES ON THE COMMON INTERNAL MARKET

years. Expanding our member network, which is one of the foundations of every German chamber of commerce abroad, and working towards their business success, has always been of great im portance to us and this will remain unchanged. That being said, I also hope for an early and comprehensive implemen tation of reforms to improve the business and investment climate in Croatia. By this I mean reducing unnecessary bu reaucratic obstacles to doing business, making the public procurement system more impartial and effective, in order to ensure non-discriminatory legal pro tection of all participants in public procurement procedures, and last but not least, responsible and predictable provi sion of public services, such as approval procedures. I am confident that these measures will create a better frame work for trade, investment and economic growth in Croatia.

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