ANALYSIS
As the EU’s Newest Member,
Croatia is Poised for More FDI
Interview with AmCham Croatia’s Executive Director, Andrea Doko-Jelusic
EM: ell us something about the overall foreign
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investment mood in Croatia. Would you say
Croatia is generally welcoming to FDI?
Doko-Jelusic: Croatia has been successful in gaining
inward FDIs since the beginning of independence,
exceeding 26 billion EUR over the last 20 years, however, 2/3 of this figure were investments in equity
through privatization. Fewer FDIs were realized as
green field projects and they are concentrated in the
financial services industry and telecommunications.
Traditionally, FDIs in Croatia come from Austria, The
Netherlands, Germany and Hungary. U.S. investments usually come via The Netherlands, Ireland or
the U.K. The AmCham Croatia membership survey
we conducted showed that managers of foreign companies value the quality and accessibility of physical
infrastructure (especially water and ICT) as well as the
fact that they are able to find qualified employees.
Generally, new EU member states’ integration into
the European single market opens new trade and
investment opportunities. Croatia also expects positive changes coming from the stronger institutional
framework and potential capital inflow from EU
funds and new investments.
The investment climate in the country is an important factor related to the perception of country risk.
There is a room for improvement related to the predictability of the business environment, which is so
important for investors. We hope to see higher efficiency of public administration and less red tape. The
Government is aware of this and is actively working
to create a more favorable business environment.
It is expected that the government will continue
increasing absorption capacity for EU funds since we
have 13.7 billion Euro at our disposal in the 2014-2020
period. Available Structural and Cohesion Funds can
create positive momentum for the economy by
developing human capital, the renewable energy
sector, infrastructure projects or water and waste
management.
Emerging Macedonia Winter 2015 Issue 44
EM: hat are some of the most innovative FDIs
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in the country?
Doko-Jelusic: There are new investments in the pharmaceutical sector like the European shared financial
services center which Teva (the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world and owner of Pliva)
opened in Zagreb last year. This fact confirms that
Croatia is a good place for investments which require
well-educated, multilingual personnel. We are especially proud to see small Croatian IT start-ups getting
attention from venture capitalists for their global
development. An excellent example is Farmeron, a
company famous for its dairy farm process software
which is now helping U.S. farmers manage their daily
activities. Mr. Kopić, the owner, is a frequent guest
speaker at Stanford.
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