ZAGREB, Feb 19 (Hina) - The task of the state in dealing with the problem of unemployment is to create conditions, provide funds and promote the notion that one should find employment on one's own, Croatian Deputy Prime Minister
Slavko Linic told reporters on Monday. International financial institutions are giving significant funds for the stimulation of small and medium businesses. The government's task is to create conditions, try to take a risk but citizens, too, must venture on entrepreneurship instead of waiting passively at the Employment Bureau, Linic told a news conference at the Finance Ministry, attended also by Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac and Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Zeljko Rohatinski. The deputy prime minister also announced the government's active role in implementing reforms, insisting that this year should be the year of reforms. The government will set the pace and deadlines, d
ZAGREB, Feb 19 (Hina) - The task of the state in dealing with the
problem of unemployment is to create conditions, provide funds and
promote the notion that one should find employment on one's own,
Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Linic told reporters on
Monday.
International financial institutions are giving significant funds
for the stimulation of small and medium businesses. The
government's task is to create conditions, try to take a risk but
citizens, too, must venture on entrepreneurship instead of waiting
passively at the Employment Bureau, Linic told a news conference at
the Finance Ministry, attended also by Finance Minister Mato
Crkvenac and Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Zeljko
Rohatinski.
The deputy prime minister also announced the government's active
role in implementing reforms, insisting that this year should be
the year of reforms. The government will set the pace and deadlines,
determine activities and delegate officials responsible for
implementing the reforms and control the implementation process,
Linic said.
Some of the reform programmes to be discussed by the government in
the next 15 days include investments in the road infrastructure,
solutions for three agricultural companies, a model of
privatisation of the state portfolio in the Croatian Privatisation
Fund. The government will also discuss reforms related to the
decentralisation of local self-government and the improvement of
the efficiency of the state administration. The government will
insist that every minister provide a suggestion as to how to achieve
set budgetary goals through job improvement, and it has already
received concrete suggestions as to how to solve the problem of
surplus work force in public companies, he said.
The said reforms will generate new unemployment, Finance Minister
Crkvenac admits but Linic emphasises that the negative effect will
be lessened with increased investments and the stimulation of small
and medium businesses. He also claims that the unemployment rate
will drop this year.
The areas in which investments will be stimulated include
agriculture, services, new technologies and tourism, says
Crkvenac.
The finance minister informed reporters about this weekend's
meeting at the Plitvice Lakes national park, where representatives
of the government, HNB, business banks and business people
discussed programmes of development of the capital market, faster
employment, decreased public spending and investments in the
public sector.
Crkvenac believes there is no room for excessive pessimism and
stresses the need to promote entrepreneurship, ideas and
successful individuals, as well as to accelerate privatisation,
and capital market development, eliminate administrative
obstacles etc.
(hina) rml