Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with members of a French employers's association in Paris on Tuesday and briefed them about cooperation opportunities between the two countries, a topic he is to discuss later in the day with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Plenkovic took part in a meeting of French and Croatian business people in the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the largest employer federation in France with more than 750,000 member companies, 90 percent of them being small and medium enterprises with fewer than 50 employees.
Addressing French businesspeople, Plenkovic presented Croatia and spoke about efforts the government is making to improve the ease of doing business in Croatia.
“We are investing maximum effort in structural reforms and the consolidation of public finances,” Plenkovic said.
Plenkovic listed some of the reforms, and emphasised the tax reform, cuts in taxes for companies, simplified red tape, and changes in the public procurement procedures.
Plenkovic said that these efforts have resulted in an upgrade of the country’s credit rating, which is now only one degree below investment-grade, adding that the government’s goal is to reach an investment rating by the end of the year. He also talked about government’s efforts to save the troubled food and retail group Agrokor from bankruptcy.
“The reforms we are implementing are improving the business environment, which is now more favourable for investments,” Plenkovic said.
Last year foreign investments in Croatia reached €1.8 billion, and this year they are projected to reach a record-high €2 billion.
Plenkovic added that a large investment cycle had been launched, adding that he expected it to increase investments in the country to €3 billion by 2030, notably investments in Croatia’s outdated railway infrastructure.
Last year the value of trade between Croatia and France amounted to €900 million, and in the first six months of this year it totalled €618 million.
France’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Croatia since 1993 has reached €1 billion, with France being 9th largest foreign investor in Croatia.
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