Nine years after www.uvozizkine.com gave an interview for CRI (Chinese Radio International for the Serbian-speaking region), Mr. Glušac gave an interview for CRI Croatia. We are presenting the full interview to you.
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The interview of Mr. Glušac for CRI Croatia
One tourist visit to the People's Republic of China was enough for Josip Glušac to decide to live and work in this most populous country in the world, and he also became a very successful entrepreneur. Everything happened 12 years ago, in February 2009, when Josip landed at the international airport in Beijing with a return plane ticket and 1,000 euros in his pocket.
"Many people in Croatia talked about how cheap China is and how you can live quite lavishly there with little money. However, it was not like that. Namely, an overnight stay without breakfast in a mid-range hotel in Beijing cost 50 euros, which is recognized "It's not very cheap," says Josip Glušac, adding: "My idea was to travel to China, but with 1,000 euros available for a three-month stay in China (that's how my return ticket from Frankfurt was), it was not very easy to do." I arrived in Beijing in February 2009, it was cold and snowing, so I thought I would return to Croatia much earlier than planned. After two days of freezing in Beijing, I saw a report on the city of Sanya on the island of the same name. It was a real summer there, the temperature was 28 degrees Celsius. I went to the airport the next day and flew to the city of Sanya. When we landed, that was when I took my first breath tropical air, I knew it was it. I quickly found a hostel where I stayed for a few days until I found a more suitable accommodation for a longer stay in this beautiful city. I spent three months trying to hang out with as many Chinese as possible and learn about their life and culture. During the day, I mostly stayed at the beach and swam in the sea, played beach volleyball, and in the evening we hung out with a barbecue on the street and enjoyed the specialties of the area. Three months in the city of Sanya flew by in an instant and I had to return home, but I immediately knew that I wanted to return sooner, which I did in the same year, but this time I hoped to stay longer and find some kind of work," he says. in one breath Josip Glušac.
By the way, Josip Glušac finished high school in Otočac, and then went to Varaždin, where he studied at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) and obtained a degree in computer science in 2008.
After returning to China, he first worked for an American in marketing, where he met his current wife. However, that second arrival in China did not last long.
"Together with my wife, we are returning to the Republic of Croatia in the second half of 2010 in the hope that we will succeed in starting some kind of business. These efforts of mine proved to be impossible, so in 2011 we are returning to China and opening the first company "Guangzhou Gabriel Import & Export Co., LTD". The company was engaged in the export and import of various goods and services from the People's Republic of China. In order to expand our business, we very quickly opened a company in Hong Kong which we named "Aoluola International Trade Limited", and finally, in 2019. in the year we opened a company in the city of Sanya under the name "Sanya Gabriel Import & Export Co., LTD". Namely, the entire province of Hainan becomes a Free Trade Port, so it was logical to move the business from Guangzhou to Sanya, where we have been living all these years", says Josip Glušac.
This young entrepreneur settled down with his family in a city he fell in love with the first time he saw it.
"Sanya is a fantastic little city where my children were born and which I consider my new home. I have traveled to various parts of China, but Sanya is still my favorite place. For those who have not been here, it will be enough for me to say how this island is called the Chinese Hawaii", says Josip.
His company has been operating successfully for a decade, and he almost didn't even feel the situation with the pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
"During the ten years that I have been involved in international trade, I have gained enormous experience working with various people from all over the world. My motto is speed, quality, because if necessary from the Nationale of the Republic of China, and it is produced in China, I will certainly find it for my clients. My job is extremely interesting, because I always work with new products, about which I have to learn a lot, which breaks the monotony of office work. Factory inspections and product quality checks that we do for our clients are also interesting, and thus we get to know the production process of various products and devices. Although 2020 was marked by the situation with COVID-19, it was not too bad for me. For example, in that period my traffic was weaker by only ten percent compared to 2019. Otherwise, life during the pandemic caused by the coronavirus on Hainan Island was perfectly fine. Namely, we had only two months of strict measures, which we all followed in a disciplined manner and we got rid of the virus. In the city of Sanya alone, only 55 cases of infection were recorded, and on the entire island of Hainan, where nine million people live, there were less than 200 cases of infected people. I have to admit that the Chinese handled the whole situation very well," emphasizes Glušac.
Josip's company imports from many countries, including the Republic of Croatia.
"We have been importing Croatian wines for seven years, and we have an assortment from five different wineries from Croatia. However, I must say that this job is not easy at all, and that without a national strategy and the association of winemakers, it will not be possible to make it bigger, more significant successes on the Chinese market. So far I have imported from wineries: Bodren from Hum na Sutla, Jako-Stina from the island of Brač, Pahlinić from the peninsula of Pelješac and Kalazić from Zmajevac in Baranja (near Osijek). we cooperate very well, and their wine is highly recommended. At the same time, I must mention that there are many other excellent wineries in Croatia, with which we have been in contact, but so far we have not imported," says Josip Glušac.
Josipa from Sanya to his native Lika is separated by thousands of kilometers. How often do you visit Croatia and how do you communicate with family and friends?
"We don't go to Croatia often. The last time I was there was in 2019. However, I often hear from family and friends, usually through the WeChat app or some other communication apps," says Josip.
In addition to successfully running the company, Josip also continued his education in distant China.
"That's right. In the meantime, I studied again and got a bachelor's degree in economics. Then I continued my education at a master's degree and last year I got a master's degree on the subject of "How to lobby in the People's Republic of China". We simply have to always learn and improve. , in order to be as professional and successful as possible. The direction of my master's study was international business, which I have been doing all these years, which helped me a lot with my master's degree. I prepared an article on the topic "How to lobby in the Republic of China". professor Dr. Boris Cizelj, which was published in Wall Street International magazine," concluded Josip Glušac.
Source: Croatian.cri.cn (Ivica Korman)
