Investopia’s CEE–UAE Strategic Economic Forum, held in Dubai on 20 November 2025, brought together senior representatives from government, business and finance to explore new avenues of cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Central and Eastern Europe. UAE–Croatia Business Club had the honour of joining the event as an official partner of Investopia, supporting the dialogue on how our regions can turn shared opportunities into concrete investment projects.
The forum, organised by Investopia in collaboration with EuroAtlantic Consulting, was opened by H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism and Chairman of Investopia. His leadership, together with the vision of Dr Jean Fares, Tamas L. Fellegi and the entire EuroAtlantic Consulting team, created a powerful platform to discuss the future of key sectors such as the new economy, artificial intelligence, space and defence, energy, logistics and advanced technologies. These sectors are at the heart of the UAE’s economic transformation and represent significant potential for CEE countries, including Croatia.
UAE–Croatia Business Club was actively present in the programme. Neven Roginic, President of the Club, moderated the panel “From Idea to Enterprise: Setting Up in the UAE”, where he joined Omar Al Faheem, Vice President of Business Development and Account Management at Dubai Silicon Oasis, and Asmaa AlQaseer, Founder of FirmFox. The session outlined practical steps for establishing a company in the UAE, highlighting Dubai’s advanced infrastructure, supportive regulations and the role of strategic partners in helping foreign businesses enter the market efficiently.
Hrvoje Bujanović, Vice President of UAE–Croatia Business Club, former Croatian Minister of Economy and former State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, took part as one of the speakers in the session “Policies and New Pathways: What Europe Offers”. Together with other European policymakers, he discussed how European economic policies, export frameworks and financing instruments can support deeper cooperation between the UAE and CEE, opening new space for trade and investment in both directions.
The Croatian business community was strongly represented at Investopia. Companies such as Vindija, Professio, Infinum, Solvership, Flavima Consulting, Format 3D Solutions and others joined the forum as part of their strategic expansion toward the UAE, many of them working closely with UAE–Croatia Business Club on exploring partnerships, investments and joint ventures. Their presence confirms that Croatian companies are increasingly viewing the UAE as a key gateway to global markets.
The forum was also honoured by the participation of H.E. Jasmin Devlić, Consul General of the Republic of Croatia in Dubai, and H.E. Lucie Berger, Ambassador of the European Union to the UAE. Their support, together with the engagement of many ministers, state secretaries and business leaders from across CEE, underlined the importance of economic diplomacy in building bridges between our regions.
Since its launch, Investopia has become one of the UAE’s main platforms for global investment dialogue, gathering thousands of participants from dozens of countries. By partnering with Investopia on the CEE–UAE Strategic Economic Forum, UAE–Croatia Business Club further strengthened its role as a connector between Croatian, CEE and Emirati stakeholders.
Following the success of this edition, UAE–Croatia Business Club will continue to support Investopia and EuroAtlantic Consulting in future initiatives, including new editions of Investopia dialogues in Central and Eastern Europe. Our mission remains clear: to help Croatian and regional companies access the opportunities of the UAE market, to attract quality investments into Croatia, and to contribute to a more interconnected, innovative and prosperous economic space between our two regions.
