According to a survey conducted by the GfK market research company, Austrian companies cite red-tape, the legal system and corruption as the biggest obstacles for the development of their business in Croatia.
Croatia's biggest advantage is its geographical position.
The survey was conducted on 70 Austrian companies operating in Croatia, at the request of the Austrian Foreign Trade Office.
Sixty nine (69) percent of the companies in question expect better business results this year, 28 percent expect the same results as those from 2004, and three percent think results will be poorer.
In addition, 78 percent of the companies covered by the survey say their business results in 2004 were better than in 2003, 15 percent of the respondents say the results of their performance were the same as in 2003, and seven percent say the results were worse last year than in 2003.
Austria is the first-ranked according to foreign direct investments in Croatia, accounting for 26.2 percent of all foreign direct investments from 1993 to 2004.
There are about 300 Austrian firms operating in Croatia.