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IFIA Magazine
March 2023

ARCA 2022

The First 20 Years

Organized by the Croatian Community of Inno-
vators, the jubilee 20th international innovation
exhibition ARCA 2022 was held from October
13 to 15, 2022, in the National and University
Library in Zagreb, Croatia.

More than 200 innovations from a dozen countries
were presented at the exhibition, which is the result of
the imagination of individual innovators, the research
and development community, and innovative start-up
companies from Croatia and abroad.
Prof. Dr. Miljenko Simpraga, president of the Croatian
Union of Innovators, pointed out in his welcome speech
that ARCA is the only such exhibition in the world that
has been held continuously for 20 years in person,
including the two pandemic years.
At the opening, the gathering was greeted by Prof. Dr.
Tomislav Josip Mlinaric, the newly elected vice-chan-
cellor for innovation, technology transfer, and coop-
eration with the economy of the University of Zagreb
(the largest Croatian university), who referred to the
role of innovation and new technologies in stimulating
the economy. The audience was greeted warmly by the
IFIA director Mr. Zoran Barisic, who spoke on behalf
of the IFIA president, Dr. Alireza Rastegar.The audience
was also greeted by the representative of the City of
Zagreb, Ms. Madeleine Wolf, the head of the Innovation
Sector of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable
Development, Ms. Diana Krcmar, the state secretary of
the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Zdravko Tusek, while the
20th international innovation exhibition ARCA 2022 was
officially opened by the envoy of the Speaker of the
Croatian Parliament, and the Mayor of Mursko Sredisce,
Mr. Drazen Srpak.
After the official opening, the Cooperation Agreement
was signed between the Croatian Union of Innovators,
the “Marko Marulic” Polytechnic in Knin, and the Med-
jimurje Polytechnic in Cakovec.
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