Current situation regarding Croatian export

The fifth consecutive Conference on Export “Pametni znaju čemu služi izvoz”, organized by the Lider’s Club of Exporters, was held on July 3 in Zagreb, and gathered a significant number of participants from various industries and business areas. Miodrag Šajatović, Editor in Chief of Lider, opened the Conference and, among other things, announced the campaign “Export deserves to be the news”, alluding on the responsibility of the media for insufficient popularization of important topics, such as export.

The Conference was organized as a series of introductory presentations, followed by interesting panel discussions. The especially interesting presentations were the ones regarding the impact protectionism has on exporters, particularly due to the current protectionist measures of the leading global economies, as well as the presentations on the impact that exporters have on Croatian economy. The presenters further discussed the possibilities of financing and securing export deals, as well as market analysis and movement of labor force.

Furthermore, the representatives of financial sector gave a clear instruction on which companies to contact regarding export deals financing, as the practice has shown that export competitiveness is not only determined by a competitive product, but also by the possibility of providing credits for the buyer, etc. 

Croatian exporters are expecting a simpler and more flexible process of importing labor force, as there is evident lack of skilled employees in the labor market, as well as ensuring new models of scholarships for students. Furthermore, they also discussed labor burden costs, which ultimately leads to uncompetitive employers, and results in both employers and workers leaving the country. 

The last part of the conference was dedicated to specialization and internationalization in the context of leading trends in technology development in the digitalization era.

After an excellent introductory presentation given by Boris Popović (Alarm automatika), who was one of the panelists, together with Gordana Kovačević (Ericsson Nikola Tesla), Marko Bogdanović (Đuro Đaković), Hrvoje Jurišić (AD Plastik), Slavko Vidović (Infodom), and moderated by Professor Nedeljko Štefanić (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture), this was the topic for which the participants showed great interest. While discussing, although the panelists provided a lot of arguments and data from their own companies that operate in various industries, they have reached a lot of joint conclusions regarding the topic “Robotization, digitalization and artificial intelligence as a competitiveness factor”. They agreed that nowadays it is impossible to talk about a successful exporter unless the company satisfies the criteria of specialization and globalization.

The president of Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Gordana Kovačević, talked about the phenomenon of ICT development, which is the foundation of digital economy, with a special focus on the need for quick adjustments and innovative ways of working, and highlighted:  “In a dynamic environment, where changes are constant and substantial, and technology is changing faster than ever, in order to be sustainable, it is not enough to be equally good, you need to be even better.”  Moreover, caring about people, their competencies, knowledge and creativity represents an important part of the overall company’s culture that has been built for years.

Gordana Kovačević said: ”Ericsson Nikola Tesla is a large ICT company which operates for almost seven decades, and not only develops new products and solutions, but also plays a big role in leading digital processes in other industries.” She further highlighted that along with the business activities in the telecommunication area, Ericsson Nikola Tesla has a significant impact in improving other industries through smart solutions and quality services and being a company of great potential, the company develops new knowledge, thus impacting positive changes in Croatia.

Ericsson Nikola Tesla Communications