Plenković: France is our partner and we will intensify our cooperation even further

Photo /Vijesti/2021/listopad/11 listopad/4.jpg

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at talks with visiting representatives of French employers on Monday that his government had done its best to protect jobs during the coronavirus crisis, noting that there were now 50,000 more jobs than before the crisis.

Plenković met in government offices representatives of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the largest employer federation in France, and representatives of several French companies.

Before meeting with Plenković, the French delegation met with Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, who informed them about the economic situation in the country and how it had dealt with the coronavirus crisis.

Plenković recalled that by early 2020 the government had been proud of reduced debt, budget stability and budget surplus, but that the coronavirus crisis had disrupted its agenda and economic and financial policies.

He stressed that after the breakout of the pandemic, the government had done its best to help save jobs.

The state intervention was strong, swift and effective, he said.

It is important that today we have many more jobs than before the crisis, around 50,000, and the unemployment rate has remained around 7%, he said.

Plenković also expressed satisfaction with this year's tourist season, noting that he expected its results to be at 70-75% of the results of the record 2019 season.

In 2019, more than 20 million tourists visited the country, generating 108 million overnight stays, and companies in the tourism sector earned €12 billion in profit, he said.

Plenković stressed that France was a big partner to Croatia and that they had had a framework for cooperation since 2010.

He also said that ahead of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Croatia a new framework for strategic partnership was being prepared that would be much deeper and more advanced and would raise the two countries' relations to a higher level.

Text: Hina



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