President Milanović: I’ll Do Everything I Can for Croatian Exports
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović participated in the 30th meeting of Lider’s Club of Exporters held on the premises of Vetropack Straža company in the Municipality of Hum na Sutli.
In addressing the exporters gathered at Lider Magazine’s Club of Exporters, President Milanović congratulated the organizers for holding the event, and said that it has made an impact on the Croatian economic dialogue and raised awareness of the importance of exports. He referred first of all to the corona crisis pandemic, and noted that all the countries today are focussed on exports and a positive trade balance.
Regarding the situation in Croatia, he said: “Today, focus is on goods, and not on services, and our performance in this area is frustratingly poor. Not one government has done what it should have, and figures showing that the export coverage of imports is 60% are very bad. Fortunately, Croatia has its tourism, and we manage to export more through services than we manage to ‘botch up’ through commodity exports”.
“What is encouraging is the EU’s 750 billion euro stimulus plan, however, we have to prove our case, we have to have good arguments in order to receive these funds”, President Milanović added, saying that a difficult year lies ahead because we are overly dependent on the tourism industry.
Tourism is both a blessing and a curse, and we use it only as a comparative advantage. Moreover, one should be careful not to focus too much on one branch, and neglect others, the President noted, referring to being overly dependent upon tourism.
President Milanović also talked about economic diplomacy whose influence should be greater. “A president on his own can’t do much. Going from one country to another has to be done, but how much real business is done there – little”, he said. He concluded by saying that as president he will do everything he can for Croatian exports that have flourished after becoming a member of the EU. “Croatia’s accession to the EU is a good thing because without the EU’s criteria we would never have reformed to the extent to be a completely functional market economy. The only path for Croatia is openness, and the EU is here to offer unlimited opportunities to those who wish and want them, because there are funds in the EU”, President Milanović concluded.
After participating in the Club of Exporters President Milanović in the company of the Chairman of the Management Board of Vetropack Straža Tihomir Premužak toured the production plant that manufactures glass packaging.
