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International
Conference, 19-20 June 2008
Zagreb, 21.06.2008
The international conference on “Immigration Policy
as a sustainable factor of economic growth in Croatia”, organized by the
Croatian Chamber of Economy, was held on 19 and 20 June 2008, at the Hypo
Centar (Slavonska Avenija 6) in Zagreb. Following the global trend, Croatia presently witnesses an increasingly
evident deficit of qualified and skilled workforce, who are the backbone of Croatia’s
economic development. Croatian
and foreign professionals form countries of the region took the opportunity to
expose and exchange opinions and positions on immigration issues and
demographic changes, current situation in the labour market, assessment of
future needs of the business sector and potential solutions.
Experiences of other countries in implementing
immigration policies and the Croatian immigration policy have been the key
issues of the first international conference on “Immigration Policy as a
sustainable factor of economic growth in Croatia”,
presented and discussed by national and international professionals for
migration and economy, organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy at Zagreb.
Today, almost all countries in the developed world
face demographic challenges and the consequent need to allow immigration. Thus,
workforce mobility and immigration are also an inevitable topic in Croatia,
which is soon to accede to the EU. Untill today, the EU does not have a single
immigration policy, that is, each member country implements an immigration
policy of its own. Nadan Vidošević, president of the Croatian Chamber of
Economy, emphasised the impetus and need to organize such a forum of discussion
and exchange: „The immigration
process should neither take place spontaneously, nor should it be dictated by
the interests of capital. Croatia should have an immigration policy of its own,
one that does not negatively affect the civilisational and cultural standards
of our society.”
Global Migration Trends and International
Experience in Implementing Immigration Policies have been the topics presented
by Ms. Sunčanica Skupnjak-Kapić, Project Manager at IOM Croatia. Thus, the need
for a reappraisal of migration policies which would reflect new demographic and
economic developments has been recognised at EU level, Ms. Skupnjak-Kapić
underlined, that national immigration policies should be based on a coordinated
and all-encompassing approach and an efficient migration management system. As
migrations are closely related to development, countries define their policies
for the acceptance of migrants independently and in line with their development
goals and needs. At the same time, these policies should comply with the
international principles of human rights and recognise the rights of migrants. In
addition, the transnational nature of migrations entails dialogue and cooperation
on inter-state, regional and global levels between the countries of origin and
those of destination, while involving all relevant stakeholders within the
migration spectrum: governments, migrants and civil society, as well as
business. This is the only way to ensure benefits and prosperity for the
respective host country, country of origin and migrants themselves.
In view of Croatian Immigration Policies, which
were determined in the past by programmes of first democratic political
parties, speeches by individual politicians, the Croatian Citizenship Act and
National Demographic Development Programme, Branko Babić, Secretary of the
Committee on Croats outside Croatia, resumed that Croatia has become an
immigration country. But in contrast to policies of European countries, where immigration
policies rate highly on the list of national priorities, Croatia is not yet
paying adequat attention on migration issues and challenges. „In an effort to address
immigration policy in Croatia, against a backdrop of inadequate data and
non-existant policy on the Croatian side, we will try to analyse the more
reliable theoretical and administrative framework of EU-accession in the field of
migration, the experiences of the recently acceed member countries which have
the same or similar historical backgrounds (Slovenia, Poland and Bulgaria) as
well as cases of successful immigration policies (Ireland, Australiaand USA)“, Silva
Mežnarić, advisor to the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies in Zagreb.
Foreign immigration must be planned and guided,
and cannot be allowed to take place if relevant authorities have no knowledge
of or will to participate in the process, pointed out by Žarko Katić, President
of the Credentials and Privileges Committee of the House of Counties. The
Croatian economy needs qualified workers and highly educated professionals in
order to develop further. Croatia should build the experiences of countries of
similar size and level of economic development into its legislative system and
practice. Strengthening ties and encouraging cooperation among various
departments on the issues of immigration and timely integration of foreign
nationals into Croatian society will pose a particular challenge.
Foreign experiences and immigration policies were
presented by professionals from France, Ireland, Czech Republic, Australia,
Austria and Israel. Fore more information and summaries of the presenters
visite the HGK website .
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