Split and Sinj, Croatia, 12-14 November, 2015
Conference Spot Report
The Final Conference which was organized by the GTF – Initiative for Sustainable Growth with the support of the Croatian Chamber of Economy – County Chamber Split, was held in Split and Sinj, 12-14 November 2015. The Conference was attended by over 100 participants, representatives of parliaments, ministries, municipalities, women associations and other support institutions, academia sector and women entrepreneurs themselves from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Turkey.
Some of the participants were the Deputy Mayor of Tirana, Albania, Ms. Brunilda Paskali, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Mato Franjičević, Assistant Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations BiH, Mr. Dragan Milović, the Mayor of the Municipality of Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Amra Babić, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Split, Croatia, Mr. Slobodan Aničić, and others.
On 12 November, the Welcome Reception was held for the participants of the Conference at the historical building Vila Dalmacija, hosted by the Mayor of Split, who was represented by his deputy, Ms. Aida Batarelo. The guest were greeted by Ms. Batarelo, Ms. Katija Buličić, President of the County Chamber Split and Ms. Mary Ann Rukavina Cipetić, President of GTF.
The main program of the Regional Strategic Conference & Workshop was held on 13 November, 2015 in Split at the premises of the Croatian Chamber of Economy – County Chamber Split.
After the introductory speeches held by Slobodan Aničić, Honorary Consulate of Sweden in Split, Dragana Đurica, Regional Cooperation Council, who stated that the RCC included women entrepreneurship as one of its priorities in its work program for achieving gender equality, Katija Buličić, County Chamber Split, Efka Heder, SEECEL, who emphasized the importance of strong partnership with GTF during the implementation of the project, and Mary Ann Rukavina Cipetić, GTF, the participants attended the working groups divided by 4 sectors: Women Entrepreneurs, Government and Parliament, WE Support Institutions, and Business Associations. Through discussions led by group facilitators, the group came to conclusions among which are:
GROUP 1 – Women Entrepreneurs, Facilitator: Dragica Jerkov, Fema d.o.o., Croatia
Networking and exchange of information are necessary
Creation of different models of associating – clusters, cooperatives, etc.
Definition of models of financing – development of projects and incentives (commercial and other banks, such as ethical bank)
Introduce the entrepreneurial way of thinking in educational systems
Introduce the quota system in the incubators and participation in public procurements and subventions
SECOND CHANCE – companies that had problems and closed, they have intellectual entrepreneurial capital that can help startup firms
GROUP 2 – Governments and Parliaments, Facilitator: Sandra Rončević, SEECEL, Croatia
Strategy on national level with concrete action plan and measures with special focus on women
There is a lack of data and statistics which show not only the number of women in entrepreneurship, but also the level of success of women-owned companies
Institutional, international cooperation between all stakeholders, from national to local level with special inclusion of civil sector as a relevant partner in dialogue
Education, training, networking and mentorship
Support and sensibilization of the media
GROUP 3 – WE Support Institutions, Facilitator: Katija Buličić, Croatian Chamber of Economy – County Chamber Split, Croatia
A campaign should be developed which promotes entrepreneurship as social virtue and very positive ethical value, work on education beginning from kindergartens in order to change bad perception of entrepreneurship which is still very present in society
The relationship between women entrepreneurs and institutions must be a two-way street, we must influence the governments to create politics in order for financial and tax system not to change that often because it creates uncertainty
The process of women entrepreneurship empowerment that has been initiated is unstoppable, this project has paved the road and set up the framework for future work on empowering women entrepreneurship. Together with support institutions (Chambers of Commerce, Universities, different organizations such as GTF and SEECEL, etc.) we can achieve the optimum.
Implement joint projects in order to ensure concrete funds for investments in concrete entrepreneurial ventures
GROUP 4 – Business Associations, Facilitator: Yeşim Seviğ, KAGIDER, Turkey
Turkey is currently presiding over G20 – recommendations for WE and inclusion in W20, Turkey can advocate for the regional WE – mediator between Europe and SEE
Regional associations don’t have adequate access to information, and the problem of centralization is present in most countries in SEE
Funding and link to political power is most important and it requires a lot of work
Exchange of information between all countries, on the regional level, more mentoring and more umbrella organizations, better access to information
More women in public procurement processes
Further development of this network and platform created through this project –cooperation in the future
Lobbying and concrete actions
Initiative to sustain this network created through the project under a new name, such as WSEE11, create a joint web portal and continue cooperation and development of women entrepreneurship in the region
In the afternoon session, the Panel Presentation “From Women Entrepreneurship to Sustainopreneurship” was held, chaired by Mary Ann Rukavina Cipetić, with presentations from Ewa Ruminska-Zimny, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland, Marijana Maksimović, Guarantee Fund AP Vojvodina, Serbia, Semiha Unal, Business Support Turkey, and Josipa Majić, ID Guardian Ltd., offices in USA, UK and Croatia.
The main conclusions from the Panel Presentation were that more women’s power is needed in digital economy and IT sector. We must encourage women to join polytechnics, science, digital technologies, STEM field and occupy managerial and director positions in companies. We need to work on support and we must follow the trends in technology, work on creation of networks and platforms in order to overcome gender inequality. Josipa Majić, CEO of an internationally successful startup gave special emphasis on technology and startups which require low capital investment and have low barriers for entry. Young women do represent new, strong potential in world’s economy. More young women should learn how to code and create their own businesses in the developing IT sector.
At the discussion that followed the Panel Presentation, Silvana Vujnović, Croatia presented the Croatian Ethical Bank and Aneta Antova Pesheva, Macedonia, offered the services of her IT company Ultra Computing for the development of web portal of women entrepreneurship in South East Europe.
Participants also strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision on the part of Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) not to continue funding for this project.
On Saturday, 14 November, a study visit was organized to the City of Sinj. The welcoming program was held in the premises of the Alkar Palace, where the guests were greeted by Kristina Križanac, the Mayor of Sinj, Ana Barać, Director of Business Centre Sinj and President of the Cluster KOLO, Stipe Jukić, President of the Alka Knights’ Society, Lada Karninčić, President of the Split Branch of the Croatian Association of Business Women KRUG, and Mary Ann Rukavina Cipetić, President of GTF-ISG.
Participants had the opportunity for B2B meetings and networking with the members of the First Croatian Cluster of Women Entrepreneurs – KOLO, and members of Croatian Association of Business Women KRUG. They sampled local products and specialties and participated at the guided visit to the City of Sinj and its monuments.
The Conference had strong media coverage, starting from media sponsor Slobodna Dalmacija, one of the biggest daily newspapers, following the many local and national media representatives from newspapers, web portals, TV and radio….
The Conference was present on social networks, especially Facebook and Twitter. Using the hashtag #WEfuture, many participants promoted the Conference on the Internet. This hashtag was also used on the 2015 G-20 Antalya summit in Turkey on 15-16 November 2015 to promote women entrepreneurship in South East Europe.
