BCCC ROUNDTABLE

Blunt: Foreign investors expect reasonable safety and reasonable profit

Only 1.6 percent of foreign investments in Croatia comes from Great Britain. At the roundtable organized by the British Chamber of Commerce entitled "CROATIA - a new EU member: how to improve competitiveness and attract investors", British Ambassador David Blunt said that foreign investors expect from the country they are investing in to ensure "reasonable safety and a reasonable profit" . He also said that the difficulties they encounter in Croatia are lack of clarity and predictability of the tax system.

"Croatia is regarded as uncompetitive country. For that, we have ourselves to blame. The main obstacles to better business and greater investment remain due to inadequate tax system and too slow administrative procedures:", warned President Ivo Josipović.

Ambassador Blunt proposed introduction of obligatory tax opinions in order to solve the problem of unclear legal framework, for various tax authorities apply different interpretations. Similar has recently been proposed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham). Ambassador Blunt also proposed introduction of an online system for public procurement and deadlines for issuing permits. Also, he criticized the public attitude towards foreign investors:

British Ambassador Mr. David Blunt

"I noticed in some media that Croatian public is preoccupied by the fact that investments are coming from another country. It often looks as if it were necessary evil. For me it is an investment - and only investment! Clean and simple, 'said the British Ambassador David Blunt.

"I hope the next government will be really committed to change and will have the will to see what it looks like in a real world, "said Karen Hill, head of the EU twinning project on government regulation.

Also, panelists were Krešimir Špoljar, Woodsford Group, Real Estate developer, Paul Suchar, KPMG Partner, tax specialist and EU advisor and Dino Ravnić, CEO of Omnisdata GIS Cloud Ltd.