"The current economic development of Croatia shows that we can relatively quickly reach the level of developed European countries, given that Croatia has been one of the most successful transition economies in recent years," Finance Ministry State Secretary Martina Dalic said at the presentation.
Croatian National Bank (HNB) Vice Governor Boris Vujcic and representatives of leading Croatian companies such as Agrokor and INA agreed with her, and presented some figures corroborating statements about Croatia's economic success.
"The presentation of Croatia means much as it has pooled many people from the world and will have good reverberations among investors. The success of the Croatian economic system has been presented, and one can now hope that this will reflect on the business performance of Croatian companies and their contacts with potential investors," Chris Cviic, an EBRD representative who anchored Croatia's presentation, told reporters.
During a round table discussion, organised in Belgrade by the Italian bank Intensa, HNB Vice Governor Vujcic said that Croatia would be ready to introduce the euro as its official currency in five to seven years. "In case we become a candidate for EU entry in 2008, we shall introduce the euro in 2011 or a year later," he added.
This year's EBRD assembly has pooled about 3,000 guests from all over the world, bankers, finance ministers, investors and world-famous companies' managers as well as 59 state delegations, including a Croatian.