Judging by the number of votes in our recently concluded Fight Club on the topic of whether Tihomir Orešković’s meetings with investors will secure more foreign investments in Croatia, it seems that the new Prime Minister is the best thing that has happened to Croatian economic diplomacy in the last twenty years.
Namely, over 4700 votes from our readers were received by Guste Santini with his thesis that Orešković’s meetings with investors will bring concrete progress regarding foreign investments, while only 68 share Damir Novotny’s opinion that the Prime Minister’s tour of Europe is merely good PR that will not yield much without government support.
Santini claims that a positive assessment of the Prime Minister’s efforts by investors could result in a revival of the market in terms of demand for Croatian debt, which could have positive implications and serve as a call for other investors. Orešković himself humorously reflected on his meetings with investors, noting that the impressions were ‚good, good, good‘. Whether the inflow of much-needed foreign investments will indeed increase due to the Prime Minister’s diplomatic offensive remains to be seen.
The biggest obstacle to investments remains the administrative system, which can only be improved through quality political decisions, a point on which both Novotny and Santini agree. However, the current actions of the new government, which is preoccupied with personnel puzzles and marginal ideological games, do not inspire confidence in grand changes, but hope dies last, not in agony, we hope.
