Zagreb Fair Director, Mrs. Renata Suša, welcomed the assembled guests to the fairs, which brought together the best agriculture has to offer and in a way indicate a great comeback of agriculture to the city of Zagreb. As many as six exhibition pavilions, comprising 16,000 m2, international fairs with participation of 21 countries, 200 hours of quality programmes to be held on six stages, are just some of the impressive data. That is why the project manager Damir Pavlek and his team received many words of praise, also later from other representatives of patrons and partners.

In the next four days, Zagreb Fair will thus be a unique place, where, among other things, agriculture and programmes for agricultural occupations will be promoted in arranged and heated pavilions, but it will also be the largest nutritional advice center.

The fairs are prepared according to the standards of eminent international organizers and will show what perspectives there are in this highly important branch of the economy.

The President of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture, Mr. Mladen Jakopović, pointed out that the Chamber has always participated in activities and supports this important event. Organizing of such fairs is one of the Chamber’s tasks aimed at informing the gathered members about all the achievements in this field. He also referred to the challenges we are facing today from the energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine, growing prices for end consumers to problems in global supply chains. The importance of connecting tourism and agricultural producers was also emphasized.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic in the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Mr. Pierfrancesco Sacco expressed a huge satisfaction that his country is included in these fairs and that the exhibition of Italian companies, the so-called Point Italy, has been jointly organized. 11 Italian companies and sector associations will be presented at the fair. He emphasized that Italy is the world export leader of machinery for agricultural production and the first Croatian supplier of food processing machinery with a market share of 23.4 percent, and the value of exports which increased by 26 percent in 2021.

Mr. Luka Korlaet, Deputy and Envoy to the Mayor of the City of Zagreb, conveyed the greetings of the Mayor of Zagreb, Mr. Tomislav Tomašević. He voiced his impressions and admiration for the large number of arranged pavilions full of exhibitors. He admitted that he always feels great at Zagreb Fair in his triple role – as Deputy Mayor, as an architect and as a citizen. He singled out the fact that the City of Zagreb invests heavily in short supply chains and supports direct purchases from manufacturers. That is why the City of Zagreb provided spaces for 32 exhibitors from the Zagreb area at the fairs. He also referred to the well-known Zagreb trademark of quality "Plavi ceker (blue reusable shopping bag)".

The Envoy to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Tugomir Majdak, greeted the gathering on behalf of the Prime Minister, Mr. Andrej Plenković, and the Croatian Minister of Agriculture, Mrs. Marija Vučković. He emphasized that CroAGRO is exactly what our agriculture needs and that this fair can really help in achieving the strategic goals of domestic agriculture.

The President of the Committee for Agriculture and the Envoy to the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mrs. Marijana Petir, spoke about all the benefits of the fairs, from direct meetings to information about new technologies. She also tackled the problems of the competitiveness of agriculture, which is faced with the high demands of European policies, climate disturbances, and the rise in energy prices. She believes that the issue of digitalization of agriculture is what will keep people in rural areas and help in further development. She underlined that self-sufficiency in agriculture is a priority.

The Assistant Adviser to the President of the Republic of Croatia for the Economy and the Envoy to the President of the Republic of Croatia, Mrs. Martina Ciglević, officially opened the international fairs and congratulated on their excellent organization. She spoke about the role of farmers and the rural area as one of our greatest assets.

You can visit the fairs until Sunday, 4 December 2022