Hajdaš-Dončić: Transport Must Be the Backbone of the Economy

At the ninth meeting of the Exporters’ Club, held today at the headquarters of Vetropack Straža in Humu na Sutli, representatives of the most significant exporting companies met with Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure.

The Minister presented the exporters with the most important government projects for the upcoming period, emphasizing the Croatian Transport Development Strategy, which is expected to be completed in February.

– It will be a transport model that has not been seen before, based on economic and ecological forms. The government and the Ministry of Transport have a vision for the development of modern transport infrastructure that includes a developmental, intermodal, socially responsible, and integrative policy. Transport must be the backbone of the economy – stated Hajdaš-Dončić.

He also commented on the project of granting highways for concession, emphasizing that Croatia is overbuilt with highways, while on the other hand, state roads are neglected. He pointed out that highway concessions are the largest financial input in Croatia after the privatization of T-com, but he is not as interested in the financial effect of three billion euros as he is in the secondary impact of the project on the economy. He concluded that logistics is the most important branch of transport that needs to be worked on, which has been completely neglected so far.

Manuela Tašler, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Lider, presented the semi-annual results of the export climate in Croatia to the members of the Club. The relocation of Croatian companies’ facilities to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and problems with CEFTA have evidently come to the fore. In the mentioned period, exports fell by 4.7 percent (to 2.7 billion euros), and it is very likely that last year’s export results will not be achieved by the end of the year. At the same time, the import result is weaker by 0.2 percent. The total coverage of imports by exports in the first half of the year is 46.5 percent. What is specific for the first half of the year is that for the first time in history, Croatia has a trade surplus with Slovenia, with the total value of exports amounting to 435 million euros (+ 15%), and imports to 426 million euros (- 12.5%).

Hrvoje Stojić, Director of Economic Research at Hypo Bank, presented some forecasts for the upcoming period to the exporters, according to which a GDP decline of 0.7 percent is expected next year, and only a growth of 0.8 percent in 2015. A further increase in the number of unemployed is also expected, as well as an increase in external debt.

After the official part of the Exporters’ Club, Tihomir Premužak, CEO of Vetropack Straža, took the exporters on a tour of the impressive glass production plant that spans 13 hectares, from both the Croatian and Slovenian sides. Vetropack Straža produces two and a half million bottles daily, and nearly a billion annually. As much as 70 percent of Vetropack Straža’s production and sales end up in exports.