The city of Osijek built this center in the IT park on Gacka Street, a specialized micro-economic zone intended for companies operating in the IT sector, which spans about 26,000 square meters. This area includes communal and infrastructural development of ten parcels ranging from 1,200 to 2,300 square meters. Before the city of Osijek constructed the IT business center, the business building of the company Mono, one of the pioneers of the modern IT industry not only in Osijek but also in Croatia, was built in the IT park. Mono, as part of the Osijek Software City Association, was one of the initiators of the IT park back in 2014.

In addition to Mono, companies such as Sedmi Odjel, Orqa, Barrage, and Layer have signed contracts for the lease of parcels, with Barrage securing two parcels, meaning seven parcels are already taken. The city offered investors numerous incentives, such as reductions in land prices based on various categories, including the number of employees or their increase, as well as different construction modules. The IT business center covers 4,000 square meters, featuring a modular conference hall with about 300 seats, around 30 offices, coworking space, an IT lab, a hospitality facility, and other amenities, managed by the city-owned company OS Centar.

That the city of Osijek strongly supports its IT industry is evidenced by this major IT park and IT business center project, worth a total of 9.6 million euros. With this project, the city of Osijek has shown that it is a partner to its IT community, which has been growing significantly in recent years. The growth of Osijek’s economy is also shown by record employment and record low unemployment in the last ten years. Compared to 2021, when I took over the responsibility of leading Osijek, the number of employees increased by 3,172 people. During this period, as many as 516 new businesses were opened in the city. At the beginning of my term, my top priority was to create a positive economic environment that would lead to increased economic activity. Therefore, we exempted entrepreneurs from paying communal contributions when building economic facilities, said Osijek’s mayor, Ivan Radić.

This has brought multi-million savings to investors, making Osijek more attractive and competitive compared to other Croatian cities. With the arrival of the large international corporation Jabil, Osijek has appeared on the investment map of Europe and the world. As the occupancy of all six entrepreneurial zones in Osijek exceeded 50 percent, the state granted us an additional 36 hectares of land to expand the Entrepreneurial Zone in Nemetin. In this year's budget, we allocated almost 700 thousand euros for entrepreneur support. Osijek is the only one of the four major cities that did not compensate for the abolition of surtaxes by increasing the income tax rate. This means that from the beginning of this year, the people of Osijek have higher wages compared to the residents of Zagreb, Split, or Rijeka. Through responsible management and well-prepared projects, the city of Osijek has become a desirable place to live, work, and invest. An important part of this positive Osijek economic story is the IT community, added Radić.

Call for Bids for Office Space The IT business center is one of the strategic projects of the city of Osijek within the framework of Integrated Territorial Investments (ITU), supported by the Croatian government. The city administration states that "bringing IT companies together in one place will create a synergistic effect through the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and business opportunities as well as new, adequate, and attractive entrepreneurial infrastructure that will enable the attraction, growth, development, and employment of companies in the IT sector. It will also promote cooperation between companies, the academic community, and research institutions." A call for bids for office space is currently ongoing and will last until July 22, with the opening of bids scheduled for July 25. Interested parties are competing for office spaces divided into 17 units with areas ranging from 22 to 171 square meters, with a starting rental price of 8 euros per square meter plus VAT and flat utility costs of 2 euros per square meter.

1,400 People in the IT Sector As for the IT park, owners of Osijek’s IT companies have been seeking solutions for their growing needs as they have expanded. The extent of this growth is best illustrated by the fact that in 2013 there were 84 registered companies in Osijek-Baranja County engaged in computer programming, employing 311 workers. In the next four years, these numbers almost doubled, so by 2017 there were 149 companies with 598 employees. Today, these figures are striking, especially compared to 2013. At the end of last year, there were 304 companies in Osijek County employing 1,400 people in the IT sector. This is three and a half times more companies and four and a half times more employees in the sector over ten years. In terms of business performance, companies engaged in computer programming in Osijek-Baranja County generated a total revenue of 88.3 million euros in 2023, which is 2.3 percent more than the previous year, with a net profit of 10.2 million euros, twice as much as in 2022. Although exports were 5.7 percent lower than in 2022, sales revenues abroad accounted for 54 percent of total revenues. In 2023, a positive trade balance of 41.3 million euros was achieved, 9 percent higher than in 2022. The only indicator that declined significantly was investments, which were 51.8 percent lower in 2023 than in 2022. The average net salary amounted to 1,226 euros, 41.4 percent above the average salary in the county's economy.

Content created in collaboration with the city of Osijek.