Enterprise Minister Gordan Maras announced on Sunday that the government would soon pass a law to encourage investment and would launch a project to simplify business start-up procedures, adding that more than 1,000 applications had been submitted for business incentive programmes.
Maras said that a new Investment Stimulation Bill, which aims to make Croatia more competitive for investment, would be introduced into Parliament this week. Based on that law it would be possible to obtain state incentives in the amount of 50% of the project's value.
"In that way we will become competitive with other European countries in attracting investors who will be able to obtain all benefits as in other countries of the European Union," the minister said in a Croatian Television current affairs programme.
Maras said that the government would soon launch a project to simplify business start-up procedures. "In future it will be possible to start up a business in just 10 days or so, without the required initial capital of 20,000 kuna for some activities, such as services, for which no special permits are required," Maras said, adding that start-up costs would be a mere 100 kuna or so.
Maras said that over 1,000 applications had been submitted within only two weeks of the launch of the Enterprise Impulse project, which offers more than 376 million kuna through 24 programmes.
"These are non-repayable funds and they vary from programme to programme. An entrepreneur beginner gets about 50,000 kuna, while money for the purchase of equipment or machinery may go up to 700,000 kuna," the minister said.
Speaking of concrete investors interested in investing in Croatia, Maras mentioned an international multinational company interested in opening a service centre for a company that employs 50,000 people in America. If the project was carried out, it would employ 200 people in Croatia, he added.
