I recommend two things to the Croatian government in order to render Croatia more attractive for investments in real estate. Tax incentives for projects and acceleration of administrative procedures, said Eli Alroy, the chairman of the supervisory board of the Globe Trade Centre (GTC), a leading developer operating eastern European countries.
Alroy said Croatia had tax levies which did not exist in competitive countries such as water management levies and additional utility fees.
He also complained about slow procedure in issuing licences to developers which can sometimes take up to year.
Croatian Economy Minister Djuro Popijac said he now expected a period of optimism and new investments to come now.
Sylvia Gansser-Potts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said that this bank had invested EUR 8 billion in southeastern Europe in 2009.
It invested EUR 1.9 billion in real estate, and the lion's share of this amount went to Romania, Croatia and Russia.
EBRD holds that the region is slowly but steadily recovering from the recession, said Gansser-Potts who is the director of the EBRD sector for real estate and tourism,