5 minute read
MANY MILES ARE AHEAD OF US
On its landmark 20th birthday, AmCham Croatia is still a young organization when compared to the 105-year-old U.S. Chamber. We are committed to fostering ties between Croatia and the United States through trade and investment as well as promoting regional trade and pan-European cooperation
American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental business organization with over 220 members (major U.S., Croa tian and international companies), which employ 70.000 persons in Croatia.
Advertisement
AmCham Croatia is part of the biggest global network consisting of 117 national AmChams around the globe and an active member of AmChams in Europe, associ ation of 44 European AmChams. European AmChams cooperate closely and provide support to their members in busi ness internationalization. AmCham Croatia is also a fully accredited member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest and most influential business organization. Based in Washington D.C., it represents the interests of more than 3 million businesses.
AmCham Croatia provides its members a forum for developing business oppor
tunities through high level networking, promotes high standards of business prac tices and engages in policy advocacy on business issues affecting its membership. Organization is committed to fostering ties between Croatia and the United States through trade and investment as well as promoting regional trade and pan-Euro pean cooperation. The focus is also on
furthering the competitiveness of Croatia as an investment location and continual development of the business environment. Through its committees and other advo cacy efforts, AmCham Croatia continuously works on strengthening partnership between the business community and key decision makers and stakeholders within the government, in order to address issues facing its member companies.
As one of Croatia’s leading busi ness associations, AmCham is actively addressing vital issues and influencing Croatian economy and society in general. It brings together the strongest companies in the country, acts as a reliable partner to the government, initiating numerous posi tive and significant changes.
Through the past year, AmCham Croatia community has grown to over 220 companies committed to both the Croatian market and global business. Last
year AmCham organized a wide variety of events and other social gatherings, directing attention to topics relevant to the business community. With 62 events, 65 committee meetings, 33 policy meet ings with government representatives and 13 position papers, AmCham Croatia has become a vibrant place for exchanging views and well-substantiated proposals with policy makers. And this is just as it should be – with the 20th anniversary approaching this December.
In 2018 AmCham Croatia celebrates 20 years of operations is Croatia. 20 years of developing business opportunities and contributing to a strong and competi tive business environment in Croatia and growing transatlantic cooperation.
Following the tradition in other Euro pean countries, 20 companies and individuals gathered in December 1998 and founded AmCham in Croatia. Since then, AmCham has been a meeting place of leading international companies. Amer ican companies doing business in Croatia, international companies coming from more than 20 countries and Croatian companies engaged in international trade and investments, contribute to more competitive Croatia.
As an advocate for a more competitive Croatia, AmCham Croatia has launched Boardroom Discussions program which focuses on digital transformation. Nowa days, every sector faces disruption to a certain extent, and digitalization goes far beyond technology. AmCham Croatia promotes digitalization towards the public sector, but also equally strives to make its members ready for any chal lenges that may arise. Through this program, AmCham Croatia provides insight into opportunities and traps of digitalization, its impact on labor, busi ness models and corporate organizations and strategies. The program is
AMCHAM CROATIA PROVIDES ITS MEMBERS A FORUM FOR DEVELOPING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH HIGH LEVEL NETWORKING, PROMOTES HIGH STANDARDS OF BUSINESS PRACTICES AND ENGAGES IN POLICY ADVOCACY ON BUSINESS ISSUES AFFECTING ITS MEMBERSHIP
designed for companies’ board members, to support their growth in 4.0 industries. As the grand finale of the “Boardroom Discussions: Digital Transformation from CEO Perspective” program, AmCham organized a business delegation to New York and San Francisco/Silicon Valley for the Management Board members
of AmCham member companies to see digital transformation at its source.
The business delegation took place from June 11-15, 2018 with the goal to learn from digital champions, traditional companies in transformation, as well as young disruptive companies. When driving your own project, it is always useful to look at how other companies approached the challenge. The delegation offered a closer look at some of the most exciting and successful transformation processes in various industries.
The delegation visited New York (New York Stock Exchange, Bank of America, NASDAQ, The Boston Consulting Group and IBM Watson Center), Silicon Valley (Google and Fortinet) and San Francisco (Microsoft, Volans-i, UBER and Lunar/ McKinsey & Company).
Being part of the world’s largest busi ness network, offers many opportunities for members. In 2017, AmCham Croatia launched the Launchpad USA program in cooperation with Finnish colleagues, to support Croatian companies during their first steps onto the US market, since many market challenges will be made easier with the right support.
Making Croatia a truly business-friendly ecosystem, dedicated to attracting investments and becoming globally competitive, is something that everyone wishes for Croatia. AmCham Croatia members and part ners are committed to contributing to this ultimate goal by sharing the best international practices and solutions, ones which could make Croatia stand out in the competitive race. As an organization, AmCham believes in a bottom-up principle – the initiatives are identified from daily obstacles faced by companies, and feasible solutions are pro posed, which have the power to change the system and not just serve as one-time solution. In the past few years, AmCham has matured into a solution-focused organization which is always credible and resourceful, creating value not just for members, but for the Croatian economy and society in general.
To properly mark the landmark 20th birthday, the organization needs to prove that it can continue increasing the support provided to member organizations. AmCham Croatia is still a young organization when com pared to the 105-year-old U.S. Chamber, but nonetheless it looks forward to showing what has been accomplished throughout the years.
