US DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME PRESENTED AT CRO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ZAGREB, Jan 18 (Hina) - The project of drafting the strategy of competitiveness of certain branches of the economy, organised by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was on Thursday presented at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) by Kevin Murphy, a competitiveness expert at the American company J.E. Austin Associates. The USAID representatives were received by the HGK president Nadan Vidosevic and associates, the Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. The USAID Croatia is this year starting a project worth 10 million kuna. In cooperation with American experts, the project will help Croatian private companies in tourism, food industry and computer science to draw up a strategy of competitiveness development, Murphy said. HGK representatives stressed that aside from illiquidity, which the state has begun to solve by returning debts, administrative barriers are the biggest obstacles to an increase of foreign investments into Croatia. In order to increase the confidence of foreign investors, it is necessary to remove excess bureaucracy and establish efficient functioning, participants of the meeting stressed. Speaking about the situation in Croatian economy, characteristics of monetary policy and the government budget, Vidosevic stressed the importance of economic cooperation with countries of the region and the efforts of the HGK to expand the presence of Croatian companies in markets of neighbouring countries and promote home businesses, especially small and middle scale companies. (hina) lml