10.10.11. 08:34:01 NEWS-HA106482
BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN NO. 8021
"INVEST IN CROATIA" FORUM TO BE HELD IN ZAGREB ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The international investment conference called "Invest in Croatia" will be organised in Zagreb on 10-11 October by the Croatian government, the Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Employers' Association (HUP).
Announcing the event last week, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said the conference would focus on strengthening the investment potential and climate in Croatia as a way of accomplishing one of the government's main projects - removing barriers to investment.
Kosor's deputy in charge of investment, Domagoj Ivan Milosevic, said the forum would include panel discussions on stepping up economic growth through investments, on investments by the Croat expatriate community, and on where the government expected greenfield investments - in the energy sector, infrastructure, tourism, and high technology.
Apart from intensifying cooperation with our partners, we will take special care to develop the best possible relations with the world's fastest growing economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the countries of the Persian Gulf and Turkey, Milosevic said, adding that the forum would reflect this attitude.
Some of prominent participants in this high-level international forum are David Fass of Macquarie Group Ltd. a leading Australian investment banks, Sheikh Mohammed A. al-Thani of Qatar, Frank Stronach, the founder and honorary chairman of Magna International Inc, Ferit Sahenk, the president and CEO of the Turkish Dogus Gorup, Davor Luksic of the Luksic Group, Andrew Scott, a macroeconomic analyst and professor at London Business School.
This executive level business forum devoted to the investment environment and opportunities in Croatia is being organised with the support of the Macquarie Group, with media sponsorship to be provided by the Financial Times and Bloomberg.
COLLIERS: ANNOUNCED ENTRY OF CROATIA INTO EU HASN'T IMPACTED REAL ESTATE MARKET
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The announcement of the prospective admission of Croatia into the European Union has not led to the expected rise in investor interest in the Croatian real estate market, according to findings of a survey carried out by the Colliers International, a global real estate services provider operating in 61 countries.
No doubt that Croatia's entry into the EU will produce a positive effect on lowering the country's investment risks, but the current economic reality emphasises the Union's structural problems which is why Croatia and its forthcoming admission remain marginal, according to the report.
One of the reasons for the perception of the heightened risk of Croatia is the market size and investment exit possibilities, namely the undeveloped real estate investment market.
The agency also points out a lack of first rate real estate in Croatia.
The agency expects a new investment wave in commercial real estate in the next 12 to 18 months and if Croatia fails to grab that opportunity, it will be destined to remain interesting only to high-risk investors.
FOREIGN TOURISTS IN CROATIA SPEND BETWEEN EUR 16 AND 50 DAILY, SAYS VISA SURVEY
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - Foreigners vacationing this summer in Croatia spent between EUR 16 and 50 per day, including costs of accommodation, according to a survey conducted by Visa, a global payments technology company, in August this year.
The survey was conducted among 500 foreign tourists in the capital of Zagreb and the three coastal cities of Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar.
Thus, 34 per cent of those polled said that they had spent daily between 31 and 50 euros. The daily consumption of one third of the respondents (33.5 per cent) was between 16 and 30 euros.
Only 4.5 per cent of those polled said they had spent more than 100 euros per day during their stay in Croatia.
Asked why they choose Croatia as the destination for their summer holidays, a half of the respondents said that they followed recommendations of their friends and family members, and 22.5 per cent said that the Internet had been the source of their information about Croatia.
As many as 37 per cent of those polled were accommodated in private rented accommodation, and 30.5 per cent of those polled opted for hotels.
As many as 76.5 per cent of those polled organised their trip on their own and 16 per cent used services of travel agencies.
As for the satisfaction with their summer holidays in Croatia, foreign guests were pleased with Croatia's scenery and hospitality of their hosts, while they criticised road infrastructure, high taxi fares and poor night life.
Nearly half of them, 46 per cent, said they were intending to visit Croatia again, according to the survey presented last Monday.
ZAGREB TAXI SERVICES DESCRIBED AS ACCEPTABLE IN EUROTEST SURVEY
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - Taxi services in the Croatian capital of Zagreb have been assessed as acceptable, according to the findings of the EuroTest programme for checking safety and quality of road transport and consumer protection, which was conducted by 16 automobile clubs in 14 European countries.
The survey showed that no city received the rating "Very Good", and seven cities were rated as "Good", eight cities were rated as "Acceptable" and six were rated as "Poor". Only one city was rated "Very Poor".
According to the overall results, while none of the cities covered by the survey deserved "Very Good" mark, "Good" was given to taxi drivers in 7 cities: Barcelona, Munich, Cologne, Milan, Berlin, Paris and Lisbon.
"Acceptable" was given to 8 cities: Salzburg, Oslo, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Geneva, Brussels, Zagreb and Zurich.
"Poor" was awarded to taxi services in 6 cities: Madrid, Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Rome. while taxi services in Ljubljana were described as "Very Poor".
The survey, the findings of which were presented by Croatian Automobile Club (HAK) representatives in Zagreb this past Thursday, was organised by the Skopos Next Gmb institute from Cologne, Germany, between 2 May and 17 June applying the mystery shopping principle in the test.
When it comes to the driver performance ratings, all taxi drivers in Zagreb were mainly kind and helpful. Taximeters ran in all journeys during the survey, and correctly showed taxi fares, said Igor Novacic of the HAK.
According to the findings of the survey, presented on the "EuroTests - EuroTest 2011 - Taxi Services" web site, when it comes to the "Adherence to Route Performance Rating" Zagreb taxi drivers were "very good" scoring 94.58 percent out of 100 per cent mark.
PRESIDENT SAYS GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED BILL IS NOT ENTIRELY IN SPIRIT OF INT'L LAW
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that he recommends the non-adoption of the government-sponsored bill to declare certain legal acts of the former Yugoslav People's Army, the former Yugoslavia and Serbia null and void, calling for finding a consensual solution, as he believes that the bill will not accomplish its purpose.
"I think that the bill is not good that that the best way is not to adopt the law. The interests of Croatia, primarily of our war veterans, should be ensured through a mutual agreement with Serbia," Josipovic said in his interview in the Croatian Television's prime time news programme on Saturday evening.
The president urged the maintenance of the mechanism agreed upon by the chief state prosecutors from Croatia and Serbia rather than eliminating it by "a dysfunctional law", and added that this mechanism proved good in the case of war veteran Tihomir Purda and the wartime and current head of the Vukovar Hospital, Vesna Bosanac.
Josipovic said that problem with the government-sponsored bill lay in the fact that the draft was not completely in the spirit of international law as universal jurisdiction existed.
The president said that many problems would be removed with an agreement with Serbia which would regulate the jurisdiction according to the place of residence.
He said that it was pity that he and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor had not been informed about war crimes indictments sent from Serbia on the same day when they arrived at the Croatian Justice Ministry, as, he said, this was not only a legal matter but also a political issue of top importance regarding the protection of Croatian citizens, the functioning of the rule of law and the relations in the region.
KOSOR SAYS HDZ WILL PERSEVERE WITH PROTECTION OF NATIONAL INTERESTS
VELIKA GORICA, Oct 9 (Hina) - The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) will persist in the protection of Croatia's national interests and in the protection of Croatian Homeland Defence War veterans and no one will thwart or discourage us from that, the HDZ president and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told a HDZ rally in Velika Gorica, south of Zagreb, on Sunday.
"We will mobilise all patriots and all who think about Croatia in the defence of national interests," Kosor said.
She said that in the last two years she and the HDZ had been exposed to many insults and humiliations but that they were not afraid.
Kosor said that one of reasons for the attacks on the HDZ was that this party destroyed "a dream about Yugoslavia" for ever.
She said that her party was returning to the original platform of the HDZ when it was founded by Franjo Tudjman.
"We are turning to what is the most valuable in that platform: to protect the homeland, to protect Croatia," Kosor said.
The HDZ Zagreb County branch's head Drazen Bosnjakovic and HDZ vice president Ivan Suker also addressed the rally.
MILANOVIC: STRONG, WEALTHY CROATIA BEST GUARANTEE FOR PROTECTION OF ITS CITIZENS
JASTREBARSKO, Oct 9 (Hina) - Once it joins the European Union, Croatia will have a historic chance to be transformed from a country with a medium-sized income into a country of security, solidarity, justice and high income, Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Zoran Milanovic said at his party's rally in Jastrebarsko, southwest of Zagreb on Sunday.
Croatia will be responsible for its every success and for its failure as decisions on the country and what benefits it are not made in some power-wielding circles abroad, Milanovic said in reference that responsibility must be assumed by those in power in the country.
He criticised the current government for inaction and for spreading lack of confidence in society in the past two years.
The SDP leader said that the Agenda 21 of the Opposition coalition would lead to successful decentralisation.
He said that a strong and wealthy Croatia would be the best protection mechanism for every Croatian citizen and human rights.
Milanovic added that the current course of the campaign ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections was full of demagogy which he said was dangerous for the entire society.
We are striving to achieve highest standards in mutual communication as in politics heavy words can kill, as we could have seen in the recent past, the SDP leader said.
MILANOVIC SAYS ACT ON INVALIDITY OF JNA DOCUMENTS POINTLESS
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zoran Milanovic, said in a Croatian Television political talk show on Sunday that the government-sponsored bill to declare certain legal acts of the former Yugoslav People's Army, the former Yugoslavia and Serbia null and void, discussed in the Croatian parliament, was pointless, adding that it would not protect anyone.
"What was sent from Belgrade is frivolous and it creates tensions in Croatia because the agreement was made on a wrong level and in a wrong way," Molanovic said.
When Croatia sat down with Serbia to resolve some issues from the past, some things were not defined precisely enough, Milanovic said.
"The agreement was done by state prosecutors and by doing so they practically assumed the role of foreign ministers. And that was wrong...This can be the topic of either a state agreement or political consultations at the highest level, given the seriousness of the issue, namely war crimes," Milanovic said.
Asked to comment Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's greeting Croatian generals sentenced for war crimes by the ICTY on the occasion of victory Day on 5 August, Milanovic said if that were him, he would not have greeted the generals. He also reiterated that the generals were paying for other people's sins.
After the 1995 Operation Storm, Croatia disgraced itself, Milanovic said. The state did not want to act, it allowed horrible things to happen to the Serb elderly in Varivode, Grubori and Bukovice. This is over. Not enough people have been held responsible for those crimes and that was a test that we have failed. And for many years there were no indictments. It is not my opinion that president Franjo Tudjman should have ended up in The Hague, it is my opinion that this was Croatia's disgrace, Milanovic said, adding that in his opinion General Ante Gotovina was paying off the collective debt.
Asked to comment on media speculation that "once elected the SDP would shut down the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)", Milanovic said this was nonsense.
Only the Constitutional Court has the power to discontinue a political party, but first there must be evidence that this party and its programme are against the constitutional order and the HDZ is not that kind of a party, Milanovic said.
DARINKO KOSOR SAYS "EITHER HSLS OR MMF"
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - "Either the HSLS or the MMF", said a team of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), led by party president Darinko Kosor, presenting their election programme to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, the media and HSLS members in Zagreb on Sunday.