NEWS

Zagreb, June 6th, 2016 - An international conference on foreign direct investment "International FDI Forum - How to achieve more foreign direct investment" was organized by the Foreign Investors Council and Jutarnji list. The opening of the meeting was attended by the Minister of Economy Tomislav Panenić and the Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić, as well as the Advisor to the President for the Economy Marko Jurčić. In their addresses to the audience, the speakers expressed support for the work of the Association of Foreign Investors as well as the importance of investment, both domestic and foreign, for further economic growth.

After the introductory speeches, the first panel was held with the participation of the Presidents of the Management Boards of some of the leading investors in the Republic of Croatia; Ram Addanki, President of the Management Board of British American Tobacco, Zoltán Áldott, President of the Management Board of INA, Mladen Fogec, President of the Management Board of Siemens Croatia, Mihael Furjan, President of the Management Board of PLIVA, Mirko Mrakužić, President of the Management Board of dm-drogeriemarkt, Michael Georg Müller, President of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank and Viktor Pavlinić, President of the Management Board of Tele2. In their presentations, the panelists referred to the previous experiences of their companies in investing in Croatia.

This was followed by the culmination of a conference in which international experts from the world’s most competitive countries (Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Australia, Israel, Canada, the UK and Australia) presented the world’s best practices in attracting foreign investment. The speakers presented individual experiences of their countries in which it is possible to find some common features; proactivity in attracting foreign investments, providing support and monitoring the success of investors in the local market, retaining existing investors and creating a stable administrative and legal framework as a basis for a quality investment environment. In conclusion, foreign experts agreed that the policy of attracting foreign investment should not depend on daily politics but be part of a planned and well-managed program of each country.

In addition to representatives of leading investors, the gathering attracted a large number of representatives of the diplomatic corps and leading businessmen in Croatia, including ambassadors from about 20 countries, Ljerka Puljić from Agrokor, Neven Vranković from Atlantic , Darinko Bago , President of the Management Board of Končar Elektroindustrija, Zdenko Adrović , Director of the Croatian Banking Association, Anton Kovačev , Head of the Croatian Office of the European Investment Bank, Berislav Horvat , President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia, Nicolas Baron Adamovich , President of the Board of the German-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, etc.