If the government does not change the public policies, there will be no progress, World Bank (WB) Country Manager for Croatia Elisabetta Capannelli said in Thursday's issue of Vecernji List daily.

Boosting the efficiency of the Croatian judiciary, increasing the public administration’s efficiency by streamlining administrative procedures and reducing bureaucracy and investing in education, research and development and innovation are the crucial but not the only areas of the public sphere in need of an urgent reform so that the business climate would improve and that the trust in Croatian public institutions would be strengthened, Capannelli said.

In an interview for Vecernji List she analysed the goals of Croatia’s draft 2030 National Strategy and warned that economic growth could not be the only aim.

What is economic growth without justice, fairness, the voice of the people and democracy? Growth cannot be the only goal of public policy, Capannelli said.

She said that Croatia could move closer to EU averages faster, but more effort was required if we wanted to achieve stronger and more inclusive economic growth.

However, it will not succeed if it continues pursuing public policies of the past ten years in the next decade. Strategies turn into reality only when they are implemented, and Croatia has not really been successful in implementing good ideas. If the government and, what is even more important, the entire society are truly committed to implementing important reforms, Croatia can really escape the low-growth trap it is in today, Capannelli said.