Lider Invest wraps up

State Secretary Zdenko Lucić on Tuesday attended the closing event of Lider Invest. The aim of Lider Invest is to promote investments that create jobs, boost export and add value.

Lucić participated in a panel on "Getting Investment Money and Allocating It", where he underscored that Croatia stood before an historic opportunity. In the next 10 years, Croatia has over 24.5 billion euro at its disposal: more than 14 billion from the MFF, with the absorption of an additional 5.3 billion from the previous MFF, being implemented until 2023, as well as 9.9 billion euro from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), of which 6.3 are grants and 3.6 are loans. Apart from that, he said, there are also financial instruments of HAMAG-BICRO, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) and EIB.

Asked to predict how successful Croatia would be in absorbing the available funds, Lucić said Croatia had experience from the previous MFF, as evidenced by projects worth more than 120 percent of the allocated funds, so he believed Croatia would certainly be successful.

Reflecting on the role of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the state secretary underscored the importance of supporting the internationalization of Croatian companies, with diplomatic network offering assistance in entering foreign markets, primarily through networking. Lucić also stressed the assertiveness in approach and communication, so that the Ministry could offer assistance in resolving any issues.