21. 03. 2012

Croatian President Ivo Josipović met today the delegation of the Managing Board of the Summit100 business leaders of Southeast Europe and discussed support for further business reintegration in the region and creating improved business and living conditions in the area of former Yugoslavia.

Political support to the regional business initiatives is needed and cooperation of companies in the Southeastern Europe, especially in entering third markets, has enormous potential, it was said at the meeting.
President Josipović said after the meeting that the first results of the Summit100 initiative are encouraging and that the efforts of business leaders aimed at establishing and maintaining cross border cooperation should be supported.
“Experience taught us that companies from this region acting on its own were not competitive enough on the more demanding markets and that with joint efforts and with combining skills they can be serious competitors to the global companies,” Josipović said.
President Josipović was presented today with the first tangible results of the Summit100 initiative: establishment of the Serbian-Slovenian consortium of construction companies Fenix, which initially gathered more than 40 companies from Serbia and Slovenia with the aim to cooperate and act jointly on the third markets (Russia, Eastern and Southeastern Europe and Middle and Far East).
Today’s meeting was held at the initiative of the Summit100 organizers – Serbian Association of Managers (SAM), Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and Managers’ Association of Slovenia (ZM)– as a continuation of the dialogue between business and political leaders of the region that was started at the Summit100 business leaders in Arandjelovac in October 2011.
The meeting with President Josipović was the third in the series of meetings that were organized with the aim to ensure further political support to the initiative and were already held with the Slovenian President Danilo Türk in November 2011 and the Serbian President Boris Tadić in January 2012.
Presidents Tadić and Türk provided full support to the further business reintegration as well as to all tangible projects of cooperation between the companies in the region that would contribute to the more competitive region, better products and services to the citizens and more successful act on third markets.
They also accepted the invitation of co-organizers of the Summit100 to be patrons of the Second Annual Summit100 that will be held in October in Arandjelovac.
The delagation consisted of Branko Radujko, Telekom Srbija, general manager and President of the Summit100 Board, Bojan Radun, Nectar, executive director and president of SAM, Maja Piščević, SAM, president of the Board and executive director, Franjo Bobinac, Gorenje, general manager, Iztok Seljak, Hidria, CEO, Sonja Šmuc, ZM, executive director, Duško Knežević, Atlas Grupa, president, Živko Mukaetov, Alkaloid, general manager and president of the Board, Ivan Ergović, Nexe Group, president of the Board and president of HUP, Damir Kuštrak, Agrokor, Executive Vice President, Davor Majetić, executive director, HUP, Miša Lukić, Leo Burnett, general manager and creative director, Summit100 and Jelena Radulović, Alba Partners, partner and program director, Summit100..
Summit100 business leaders of Southeastern Europe – A Deal for a New Age, that gathered business leaders from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia was held for the first time in hotel Izvor in Arandjelovac, on 6-7 October 2011. That was the first, successful attempt to gather business leaders from the countries of the region with the idea to articulate the voice and interests of the business community and contribute to the creation of competitive region and better business and living conditions in this area through a constructive dialogue with the political leaders.