Prime Minister Oreskovic: IBM's investment shows Croatia can be competitive globally

The US IT giant IBM will open a client innovation centre in Zagreb from which it will provide technical support to its users worldwide, Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

The IBM centre will create 500 new jobs and use the latest technologies and tools, the prime minister said, adding that this investment shows that Croatia is an open country that can be competitive not just in Europe but globally as well.

"We have excellent people, knowledge and possibilities," he said.

Oreskovic said that the investment was very important for Croatia and its economy. He added that the IBM centre would provide new employment opportunities and would collaborate with Croatian universities in mentoring programmes to prepare young people for work at the centre.

"Everybody knows that IT is the future. Europe is looking for 900,000 new IT professionals and we must be ready to strengthen this sector," the prime minister said, expressing hope that this would help attract young people who have sought work in the IT sector abroad to come back home.

IBM Croatia Country Leader Damir Zec said that Croatia has skilled people and the necessary knowhow and is able to provide quality service in Europe and elsewhere.

Zec would not reveal how much the investment cost, saying that they planned to hire 500 people over the next few years and that the centre would be located in Zagreb. He said that its opening was expected in the first quarter of 2017.

The IBM Client Innovation Centre will provide technical support service to users worldwide 24 hours a day and in the languages of countries using the IBM system.

That IBM was looking into the possibility of setting up its technical support centre in Croatia was first reported in May by Slovenian media, which said that Slovenia and Slovakia were also potential locations, but that Croatia was selected because the Croatian government had offered the best investment terms.

Economy Minister Tomislav Panenic said at the time that the government was informed of IBM's plans. He noted that no special terms had been offered to the US company, but that Croatia had the best "investment package" of all the countries in the neighbourhood.

IBM is one of the largest US companies with more than 400,000 employees around the world. Last year it generated USD 82 billion in revenues and 18 billion in pre-tax profit.


(Text: Hina)

News