Minister Gordan Jandroković opened seminar entitled “Doing Business with NATO”, organized by MFAEI and held June 19th 2009 at Westin Hotel

In the opening part of his speech, Minister Jandroković pointed out that Croatia’s NATO membership is a strong guarantee of our national security and the safety of our future generations, as well as a recognition for the reforms carried out and the achieved level of political stability and democratic development. NATO membership has significantly solidified our position within the international community, which is important not only for us, but also for the rubbing off of Croatia’s success on its immediate neighborhood, as well as for the further stabilization of Europe’s South East, said Minister Jandroković.

He added that NATO has given its members a period of peace unprecedented in the European history, and that security has brought on economic wellbeing as well, with citizens of NATO members enjoying the highest living standard in the world. Illustrating the economic power of the Euro-Atlantic space and pointing out that all of the countries from the second NATO enlargement cycle have bloomed economically, Minister Jandroković said all these are valid arguments for Croatia experiencing the same economic effects as well.

In order for us to use all of the advantages of NATO membership, we must follow the development of new standards and technologies, as well as strengthen the two aspects of our competitiveness – export and investment, said Minister Jandroković. In the final part of his speech, he pointed out another important aspect of NATO – the members’ cooperation on various scientific, technical, infrastructural and industrial projects, both within and outside NATO, which offers great possibilities not only to Croatian entrepreneurs, but to scientific institutions as well.

The seminar also saw the participation of NATO guests – Deputy Assistant Secretary General Aurelia Bouchez and representative of NATO’s Maintenance and Supply Agency Jörn Brauer, who presented how to best use new business opportunities that are opening up for us, explaining the procedures of replying to competitions and tenders by NATO and its agencies.

Also attending the seminar were representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Defense, the Croatian Chamber of Economy, economic diplomacy of NATO countries accredited to Croatia, representatives of Croatia’s state administration, economic and other associations, Croatian entrepreneurs and businessmen who have already done business with NATO, as well as the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

The goal of the seminar was to present information on what kind of products and services the NATO members’ markets seeks, how to apply for participating in projects, what kind of institutional support is expected, and what the past experience of foreign and Croatian businessmen were like.