President Ivo Josipovic met with Croatian emigrants at the Croatian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York on Friday to discuss strengthening their ties with their parent country and investment possibilities in Croatia.
President Josipovic underlined the importance of maintaining strong ties between the diaspora and Croatia, preserving the Croatian national identity abroad and fostering the knowledge of the Croatian language.
Inviting Croatian Americans to invest in the country of their ancestors, President Josipovic said that Croatia did not need assistance, but foreign and domestic investments.
Responding to questions from about a hundred emigrants who gathered for the occasion, President Josipovic spoke of Croatia's efforts to join the European Union, which he expected to happen at the start of 2012 or 2013, and the development of energy, tourism and eco-agriculture.
He also stressed the need to strengthen the education system in Croatia and renew the high tradition of education that had drawn many foreign students to Croatia before the war of the 1990s.
Speaking of Croatia's sore points, Josipovic cited the judiciary and the excessive number of local government units, which he said was too expensive for Croatia.
Other topics discussed included the low birth rate and the overburdened pension system.