Huge amount of American capital is waiting to be invested someplace in the world which is cost-effective, and hopefully more American entrepreneurs would find business opportunities in Croatia, US Ambassador to Croatia Robert Kohorst said on Wednesday, adding that the government has to facilitate doing business.

“The USA has a huge amount of capital that is waiting to be invested somewhere in the world where that is cost-effective. You can’t tell American companies to come to Croatia. They will come when the opportunity arises,” Kohorst said at a lecture on advancing entrepreneurship at the Zagreb School of Economy and Management (ZSEM).

He added that the development of the business climate in Croatia required the improving and speeding up of the judiciary, reducing red tape, as well as simplifying the taxation system and making it predictable.

The government has to simplify doing business so that capital can feel welcome, Kohorst said, and mentioned a few positive examples of American investments, such as the recent acquisition of the Nova TV broadcaster by the American KKR investment fund, as well as one of KKR’s companies ordering a luxury ship to be built at the Split-based Brodosplit dock.

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