There is "growing optimism within the Croatian business community" as the country's GDP growth rates are "more than encouraging," the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham), Andrea Doko-Jelusic, said in Zagreb on Wednesday.

“Economists say that the growth rates this year could offset the damage the economy suffered last year,” state agency Hina quoted her as saying in a conference titled “Is it ‘the new normal’ or back to business as usual?”, organised by AmCham and the Polish private equity fund Enterprise Investors.

She said that “there are still challenges, citing growing prices of food, raw materials, iron, steel, but added that these are new circumstances everyone is adjusting to,” Hina said.

Doko-Jelusic added that the impact of private equity on the Croatian economy is significant because it not only provides financial strength and impetus but also advises companies in sensitive stages of development.

Speaking of potential new investment in Croatia, she said that Enterprise Investors has been present in the country for five years now, which shows that it has confidence in the market and the Croatian economy. She cited its investments in the Studenac retail chain, the Intersport sporting equipment retailer and the Pan-Pek bakery, and said that it wants to continue investing.

Enterprise Investors is a leading private equity investment fund in central and eastern Europe. It acquired Pan-Pek and Studenac in 2018 and Intersport before that.

Enterprise Investors’ partner for the Adria region, Michal Kedzia, said that their business experience in Croatia has so far been very positive and that the Croatian economy is returning to normal in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Doko Jelusic said that the IT sector has come into focus during the pandemic, generating high growth rates, and that she would like to see a foreign acquisition in this sector in Croatia.

Asked how she sees further economic activity in the event of a new lockdown, she said that the pandemic has brought about a lot of uncertainty and that it is difficult to speculate. However, a considerable portion of the population has been fully inoculated, which is encouraging, she added.