ZAGREB, May 11, 2018 - The Regional Development and EU Funds Ministry and the World Bank's Croatian office on Friday signed a 4.34 million euro agreement on consulting services for the establishment of a strategic planning system and the preparation of a national development strategy until 2030.
The agreement was signed by Minister Gabrijela Žalac and the manager of the World Bank's Croatian office Elisabetta Capannelli.
The money will be used from May 2018 to June 2020 to support the drawing up of the strategy as well as programmes for the absorption of EU funds after 2020.
Žalac recalled that a law on the strategic planning and management of development was adopted at the end of last year and that its application was expected to result in the adoption of the national development strategy until 2030. She said cooperation with the World Bank was expected to help in that as there were over 300 national and 1,700 regional and local strategic documents, so that development and strategic planning could be combined and made more efficient.
Capannelli said the World Bank's Croatian office and the Regional Development and EU Funds Ministry experts would work on over 20 economic areas. We will unite our global and expert know-how and experience to help Croatian authorities strengthen the national framework for strategic planning, which is key for a successful implementation of the government's programme and an effective absorption of national and EU funds, she said.
Asked by reporters how the World Bank assessed Croatia's growth rates, Capannelli said it was happy to see strong fiscal consolidation and economic growth, but that Croatia's potential was much higher. We are happy with the trends but not with the speed, and we believe a lot more can be done, she added.
