ZAGREB, September 11, 2018 - Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Tuesday that the government would be satisfied if foreign investments in Croatia this year were to total two billion euro.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Jutarnji List daily, Horvat said that foreign investments had hit rock bottom in 2013 and 2014, amounting to between 450 and 500 million euro.
It was only in 2017 that investments reached the level of 2007 and 2008, totalling 1.84 billion euro, he said. "Why am I optimistic? In the first quarter of this year foreign investments in Croatia totalled around 486 million euro. If that trend continues until the end of the year, we will have a successful year given the investment potential of two billion euro," said Horvat.
The minister said that grants allocated through structural funds to small and medium businesses now stood at 3.3 billion kuna.
Croatia's investment laws are very encouraging, he said, adding that domestic businesses had much higher investment potential than foreign ones. "We have good projects and investment potential and it is up to us to set the investment cycle in motion," he said.
He announced that in about ten days 59 local government units would sign contracts worth 225 million kuna granted from EU funds and to be used for rebuilding or upgrading business infrastructure.
"With the reduction of administrative obstacles the impact on the business sector by the end of the year will be around 625 million kuna. The tax reform has already reduced the burden on the business sector by around 2.5 billion kuna," said Horvat, explaining how the government was creating an active investment environment.
Commenting on Brodosplit shipyard CEO Tomislav Debeljak's statement that interest rates for the shipbuilding sector were too high, Horvat repeated that intensive work was under way to establish a guarantee fund to secure stable support for the financing of production in all shipyards, big and small alike.
The models of operation of that fund will be known by the end of the year and shipyards that are financially stable, have good business results, competitive products and a market niche eligible will be eligible for its support, Horvat said, adding that the state wanted the shipbuilding industry to continue existing but on healthy foundations.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) director for the Adriatic region Miguel Morgado said that over the past ten years the EIB had significantly contributed to the development of the Croatian economy and helped create more than 2,000 jobs. He pointed, however, to the lack of big projects and suggested that Croatia should opt for production sectors in which it could be globally competitive.
Rimac Automobili director Mate Rimac said that Croatia had missed many opportunities for development and noted that he was working on a study that would attempt to explain why manufacturing businesses had left Croatia for other countries. The state must have a clear strategy of how to attract investments, Rimac said.
Vetropack management board chair Tihomir Premužak agreed with Rimac, saying that Croatia yet had to create an investment climate. In that context, he mentioned that a tool plant to employ 3,000 workers was being built in Slovenia, wondering why something like that was not happening in Croatia.
