GEM Croatia can proudly claim a role in supporting the country’s economic development following the devastating Balkan War of the 1990s. Croatia faced an economic crisis marked by massive unemployment, collapsed industries, and widespread uncertainty. The need for economic development was urgent, but immediately postwar, discussions were focused on the provision of humanitarian aid, not on assuring long-term recovery.
However, there was a turning point in 2001. A meeting with GEM co-founder Paul Reynolds of Babson College and London Business School led to Croatia joining the third GEM research cycle in 2002. Backed by strong conviction and persistence, GEM Croatia eventually secured the support of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and SMEs to begin the country’s first comprehensive entrepreneurship data collection effort.
Read the full GEM Croatia Policy Impact Story.