ZAGREB SYMPOSIUM ON EMPLOYMENT ENDS

ZAGREB, Oct 28 (Hina) - A two-day symposium, called "Croatia 21 - Work and Employment", which gathered more than 250 business people, scientists and politicians from Croatia, Austria and Germany, ended in Zagreb on Saturday. The event, organised by Siemens and Intercon companies, was the third Siemens and sixth Intercon international symposium. There can be no employment without economic growth, a precondition for economic growth being new investments in production facilities and equipment, it was said. Participants in the conference agreed business people in Croatia had difficulty obtaining approved loans, because banks sought too high guarantees. Intercon director Josip Baotic said stimulating employment in Croatia required changing the "mental framework" of its citizens, i.e., their attitude to the basic factors of purposeful work - society, assets and time. Baotic believes people in Croatia still live on a day-to-day basis and that young people are not being educated for professions which will be in demand in a few years. Labour and Welfare Minister Davorko Vidovic said the government was determined to pull the state out of the crisis. Modernising the state administration is a precondition for making progress in employment, he said. A European Union representative, Evelyn Viertel of the "European Training Foundation", said Croatia had to adjust its legislation to the European legislation and secure permanent training for workers. A union leader, Kresimir Sever, said increasing employment required the adoption of a strategy of economic and social development. The current growth rate of Gross Domestic Product of four percent is not sufficient for an increase in employment, he said, adding stable legal regulations which would make investments simpler, a lower gross price of labour, and a higher level of knowledge of business managers would help stimulate employment. Employment Bureau head Sanja Crnkovic Pozaic believes the unemployed in Croatia are passive and lack self-confidence. Even if 200,000 new jobs were opened in Croatia, those registered with the Bureau would not be able to get a job because they lack the qualifications for those jobs, she said. Croatia does not have education and re-training systems for adults and the education system for children is poor, she said. The symposium also tackled conditions for the return of Croat emigrants to their homeland. Janko Peric, a deputy in the Canadian parliament, said Croatia should use the abilities and influence of Croat emigrants who were parliamentary deputies. (hina) rml