ABOUT 100 BUSINESS PEOPLE FROM THE DIASPORA RESIDE IN ZAGREB

( Editorial: --> 4030 ) ZAGREB, Feb 23 (Hina) - The Ministry for Return and Immigration organised a meeting of about 100 business people from the diaspora on Monday at which they discussed investment opportunities in Croatia's economy and stimulating the return of Croatian emigrants. The Minister for Return and Immigration, Marijan Petrovic, said he was satisfied with emigrant investment into the Croatian economy to date, which because of the war and war conditions, could not be higher. He said that annually more than US$12.5 million of returnees' pensions are poured into accounts of 18 Croatian banks. He also gave examples of significant investments by immigrants, like the Karlovac Brewery (50km south of Zagreb) and the hotel in Novi Vinodolski on the northern Adriatic coast, as well as the construction of a tourist resort in Istria. Petrovic asked emigrants to hold their money in accounts of Croatian banks, emphasising that according to his information, interest rates in Croatian banks are higher than elsewhere in the world, and those returns are non-taxable. Privatisation Minister, Milan Kovac, advised emigrants to especially give full consideration into buying real estate and entering the share market. The president of the Croatian National Parliament's state budget committee, Djuro Njavro, said that apart from direct investments, emigrants could invest in Croatian government bonds, in Croatian banks, investment funds and Croatian pension funds. The Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Zlatko Dominikovic, invited emigrants to invest in the production of oil, sugar-beet and meat and most of all in agricultural technology. The Deputy Tourism Minister Vinka Cetinska put forward opportunities for tourism investment. (hina) mm mrb 231724 MET feb 98