Deputy Prime Minister Grcic: British investors show interest in motorways, railways, ports, energy and tourism

Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Branko Grcic, said he was pleased with the first British-Croatian trade and investment forum in London on Thursday, citing large infrastructure projects, monetisation of the motorways, investments in the railways and ports, energy and tourism projects as areas of interest to potential investors.
 

The forum drew about 200 participants, representatives of financial and investment institutions, to whom Grcic, Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak and Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic presented investment opportunities and specific projects in the areas of infrastructure, energy and tourism, as well as the legislative framework designed to attract investors.

"The attendance was extraordinary and this forum can be assessed as successful," Grcic told Hina, adding that a series of bilateral meetings with potential investors were also held.

"We presented all our advantages, without hiding our disadvantages, because we believe that is a fair way to show that things in Croatia are changing for the better. We are aware that there are still a lot of problems, those of a macroeconomic nature, those relating to the business climate, and all those obstacles that have hampered investments in Croatia for years," Grcic said.

Grcic said that the objective was to highlight the changes the government had initiated in that regard over the last two years and which were beginning to produce results. "We underlined the importance of the stability of the justice system, the need to complete the remaining reforms, our efforts to reduce corruption in the (public administration) system to zero, which is an extremely difficult process. We put emphasis on key large projects in different sectors which investors can join straight away," he added.

Investors were also presented with opportunities offered by more than 10 billion euros from EU funds over the next seven years and were told that Croatia could serve as a bridge for British and other investors interested in doing business in Southeastern Europe.

According to Grcic, bilateral talks confirmed a great interest in investing in large infrastructure projects, most of all in the railways, monetisation of the motorways, ports, and energy and tourism projects.

Grcic said that all the projects presented were in advanced stages of preparation. "We informed the British public and investors about the business potential in Croatia, which projects can be launched within a very short period of time and about time frames within which public calls for their implementation could be expected."

In his address to the forum, Grcic highlighted six main reasons for investing in Croatia: the government's determination to implement reforms, the stability and security of the business environment within the EU, a stimulating legislative framework, interesting investment projects, the possibility of using EU funds, and Croatia's geographical position.

(Hina)
 

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