During a discussion on investments and economic growth, which was held on the second day of an annual conference of the Croatian Economists' Society in Opatija on Thursday, Radimir Cacic, the Croatian People's Party (HNS) leader, said that it was necessary to increase the employment of Croatia's workforce from the current 55 percent to 65 percent in the coming four years.
A country with low employment and not a good performance by those who are employed, as well as with inadequate technology, stands no chance, he said.
Cacic said that four possibilities for growth and investments were the use of state-owned facilities and sites for tourist purposes, energy and food production, the country's geo-strategic position and transport infrastructure development, and the use of EU funds.
Commenting on the possibility of the government calling the International Monetary Fund, Cacic said that "if you don't know what you want, the IMF is the bogeyman."
Economist Mladen Vedris cited the Rijeka seaport, intermodal transport, energy efficiency and irrigation as insufficiently used potentials.
Commenting on the situation in state-owned shipyards, Vedris said the European Union did not demand the sale of those shipyards at any price but that it requested putting an end to the practice of taxpayers paying the difference in the price of ships produced in Croatia and those with greater added value produced in western Europe.
The conference ends on Friday.
