BRUSSELS, Feb 25 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic has called on Belgian business people to invest in Croatia as a potential gateway to the region.
BRUSSELS, Feb 25 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic has called on Belgian
business people to invest in Croatia as a potential gateway to the
region.#L#
The Croatian head of state, who met representatives of the Belgian
Employers' Association and had a working lunch with them in Brussels
on Wednesday, said Croatia was a small market, but with its
neighbourhood it constituted a much larger area and "the arrival of
investors in Croatia, as the leader of the region, will mean their
arrival in a larger region too", Mesic added.
Belgian business people have so far invested mainly into malt
production, the garment-manufacturing industry and breweries.
Mesic said that there were greater possibilities of investment,
particularly in the tourist sector.
The president of the Belgian Employers' Association, Tony Vandeputte,
said that in Croatia there were still administrative obstacles to the
enhancement of business cooperation, but that the government was
taking many good measures to improve the situation. Vandeputte
suggested that the functioning of the state administration should also
be improved, and added that the infrastructure was now much better
than it used to be. He also voiced hope that Mesic's visit would
stimulate Belgian companies to consider investing into Croatia.
(Hina) ms sb