Croatia Online Business - Debate on Croatian Business Culture

With many reports suggesting that Croatia may be, if anything, losing ground in its attempts to deal with bureaucracy, corruption and the general transparency and attractiveness of its business climate, the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy is inviting anyone with something pertinent to contribute to “raise your concerns regarding the relevant issues pertaining to the legal framework negatively affecting business community and your particular industry ….. whether it is a domestic regulation/legislation or EU imposed, or a specific case of corruption, we would be eager to hear your voice”

They will then use this input in the first debate of the Libertas Debate Series, to be held at the European Parliament in Brussels on October 13. The debate is entitled “Is Croatia on the Road to Reforms or Not?" and will be moderated by Edward Lucas from the Economist Magazine. The debate will be introduced by Roger Helmer, MEP, UK and the Croatian Government will be represented by Ana Lovrin, Minister of Justice, and Damir Polancec, Deputy Prime Minister.

The Adriatic Policy Unit was established on September 6th 2004 and claims to be “an independent free market think tank dedicated to providing ideas and practical solutions which make societies and economies prosper”. You can read all about it by going to http://www.adriaticinstitute.org/ and it would be good to think that the debate might have some influence on government. Time will tell.

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Today’s photo shows Croatia Online’s editor sitting next to the Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs, Tourism, Transportation and Development and participating in a conference on sustainable nautical tourism back in April 2005. At that time the government suggested it would be bringing in regulations for the disposal of marine waste, as a matter of urgence, to ensure pump out systems were provided at ports and marinas to help prevent the dumping of boat waste at sea. We’re still waiting for effective regulations to be put into place.