VIENNA- EXTENDED VIENNA, Sept 20 (Hina) - The Croatian government's aim is to develop a completely democratic society and productive market economy and thus ensure the prosperity of not only of Croatia but also of the entire region on
that basis, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Linic said in Vienna on Thursday where the second Europe Forum took place. The event, organised by Bank Austria Creditanstalt, gathered several hundred politicians and business people from central and eastern Europe, Japan and the United States. The topic of this year's forum, opened by Austrian President Thomas Klestil was "A New Europe. Towards A Joint Future. The discussion also focused on the introduction of the joint European Union's currency - the euro. Linic informed the participants of his government's three main macro-economic goals: responsible fiscal policy, independent monetary policy and stable policy of the exchange rate i
VIENNA, Sept 20 (Hina) - The Croatian government's aim is to develop
a completely democratic society and productive market economy and
thus ensure the prosperity of not only of Croatia but also of the
entire region on that basis, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister Slavko
Linic said in Vienna on Thursday where the second Europe Forum took
place.
The event, organised by Bank Austria Creditanstalt, gathered
several hundred politicians and business people from central and
eastern Europe, Japan and the United States.
The topic of this year's forum, opened by Austrian President Thomas
Klestil was "A New Europe. Towards A Joint Future.
The discussion also focused on the introduction of the joint
European Union's currency - the euro.
Linic informed the participants of his government's three main
macro-economic goals: responsible fiscal policy, independent
monetary policy and stable policy of the exchange rate in light of
the introduction of the euro.
Croatia is taking all the necessary measures to enhance
productivity and competitiveness of its economy and to develop a
transparent and efficient political system, he added in his speech
at the forum.
Later, responding to reporters' questions, Linic said the Croatian
government had completed negotiations with Deutsche Telekom, the
strategic partner of the Croatian Telekom (Hrvatski Telekom or HT)
and therefore he did not believe that the recent terrorist attacks
in the United States could affect Croatia's plans for income from
this year's privatisation.
The amount of 6.5 billion kuna (approximately 807.5 million US
dollars) from privatisation is not unfeasible, but we should assess
whether it would be sensible to lower the price of shares under
these unstable conditions on finance markets, Linic said.
The government planned another kind of privatisation for the coming
year: to enter financial markets in pursuit of 'unknown' financial
investors, he said and admitted that Zagreb could now expect the
impact of the developments in the United States on the quotation of
Croatian shares on the stock exchanges.
We shall have to make more efforts in direct negotiations with our
future strategic partners and we shall have to wait for the entrance
to new markets until the end of 2002, Linic explained.
Present the Vienna event was Zeljko Covic, the chairman of the
management of a leading Croatian pharmaceutical company 'Pliva'.
Asked to comment a drop in the price of Pliva shares on Croatian and
foreign stock exchanges, he answered that this process was caused
by instability on stock exchanges and the company could do nothing
in it.
Pliva is a financially stable company and its business activities
are going on as planned. Covic added.
(hina) ms