WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS

• “Damir Polančec, government’s Vice President, is convinced that the reforms up till now have brought some results. As evidence he mentions the growth of gross domestic product of six percent in the first semester of this year, and he believes that this level will be maintained until the end of 2007. The unemployment rate according to a survey dropped to 10.5 percent in August, the lowest in the last decade.” [excerpt from Privredni Vjesnik, 1.10.2007]

• “A favorable business environment is the one which is stable, predictable and open to investors, said Vincent Degert, the head of the delegation of European Commission in Croatia. Croatia faces several challenges in its efforts to make its economy competitive on the world scene, according to Degert. The first one is the simplification of legal procedures, especially issuing various permits and registrations for companies. It is necessary to minimize the government intervention regarding economy, to establish efficient educational system, and persist in the fight against corruption at all levels. There is no giving up and no detours in that road to reform because the reforms are the necessary condition for Croatia’s joining the European Union, concluded Degert”. [excerpt from Privredni Vjesnik, 1.10.2007]

• “One of the best trump cards in such a competition is constant reform of the business environment, which is especially needed in Southeast Europe in order to unleash its huge potential, warned Pierre Guislain, director of FIAS” [excerpt from Privredni Vjesnik, 1.10.2007]