Speaking at a press conference at Zagreb airport upon arrival from the United States on Saturday, Miksic said he would stand as an independent candidate and that "no lobbies or interest groups" were behind him.
"Croatia no longer needs politicians of the past, but leaders with new experience who will be capable of leading the country in the 21st century," Miksic said, announcing his definitive return to Croatia.
Miksic said his political platform was based on a new direction and strategy in economic and business policy, employment and increasing the birth rate. He underlined the importance of resolving the burning issue of a large-scale brain drain.
Miksic said that he had decided to run for the president in order "to pay back his debt to the country", which he left more than 30 years ago after completing his studies and participating in the Croatian Spring movement in the early 1970s.
Miksic owns a company specialised in corrosive control, which operates in more than 80 countries. As an honorary consul to Minnesota, he was very active in lobbying for the Croatian cause in the US during the 1991-1995 war in Croatia.
Miksic ran in the Croatian parliamentary election in November 2003, but failed to win the minimum number of votes to enter the legislature.