NEWS

Zagreb, June 13th - The international conference "Investments in Croatia: Potentials and Reality" was held today in the organization of the Foreign Investors Council and Deloitte under the high auspicies of the President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. The conference partners were Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d., Tele2 Hrvatska d.o.o. and the Golden Sponsor HEP d.d. (http://www.hep.hr/)

The opening session was attended by the Head of the Department of General Justice and Rule of Law from the European Commission Nievi Ringou, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of Croatia Mario Antonić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia Josip Salapić, Adviser to the Prime Minister of Croatia Tomislav Pokaz, CRANE President and Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Croatia Davorin Štetner and numerous other guests.

After the introductory speeches, three presentations followed with an emphasis on the essential changes and advancements that Croatia has to do in the area of legal security and tax policy. A key emphasis were on the stability of the legal system, consistent implementation of the rule of law and the development of a tax system appropriate to the Croatian economy and its future growth.

After the presentation, the main panel was attended by the Head of the Department for General Justice and Rule of Law from the European Commission Niovi Ringou, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Mario Antonić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia Josip Salapić, President of the Foreign Investors Council Mladen Fogec, a partner from Deloitte Helena Schmidt, Head of the Department for Economic Development from Regional Development Agency Međimurje Jako Horvat and Director of Kaspar Papir Davor Belić.

The conference was concluded with a comparative analysis of Croatia with the EU countries and the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. Areas identified for improving the investment climate include reducing profit and income taxes, tax incentives for investments in research and development, IT sector and other strategic sectors of a specific country, a proactive national policy in attracting foreign investments and general business-political stability.

In addition to the representatives of the Croatian Government and government institutions and leading investors, the conference attracted a number of representatives of the diplomatic corps, media and business community from Croatia and abroad.