The conference is aimed at providing information about the best Croatian and international models of strategic investment through donations, partnership, sponsorship and the inclusion of employees in useful community work.
The conference is financially supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and organised by the Academy for Educational Development, the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) from Great Britain, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Croatia and the Croatian Chamber of the Economy (HGK).
The event was opened by USAID Mission chief William Jeffers, the HGK vice-president for the economy, European integration and EU issues, Vesna Trnokop Tanta, Podravka food company CEO Darko Marinac, and the director of the IBLF's Responsible Business Solution, Peter Brew.
Trnokop Tanta said that the HGK had initiated the establishment of an association for responsible corporate business gathering 87 companies and that next year it would start giving awards for responsible business.
USAID Mission chief Jeffers said that companies refusing socially responsible business would not be attractive to consumers. Surveys show that only 16 percent of people in the USA do not know what socially responsible business is, their interpretations vary but they are aware that this is a very important issue, Jeffers said.