ZAGREB, May 5, 2018 – During her visit to Čakovec in Međimurje County on Friday, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović met with county prefect Matija Posavec and other country officials for talks on tax policies, which, she underscored, should contribute to workers’ dignity and the absorption of EU funds.
She congratulated Međimurje on being included by the Financial Times ‘fDi Magazine’ in the top ten small regions with a population of less than a million and a half in the category of attracting high-quality foreign investments. She assessed that one of the keys to the success of this northern Croatian county was its focus on the present and future, on existential issues for citizens, on leaving aside ideological divisions.
Međimurje ranks seventh in the list of the Top Ten European Small Regions of the Future 2018/19 in terms of FDI strategy.
County Prefect Posavec said that Međimurje did not have any problems with growing employment or decreasing its unemployment rate which stood 5.8%. However, the county does have a problem in relation to the fact the average pay is 18% lower than the national average pay. “That is not a problem just for our county but the entire north of the country,” he underscored. He considers that introducing tax breaks, increasing earnings and preserving workers’ dignity could help those who emigrated to decide to return home.
Međimurje absorbs the most EU fund per capita and they already have projects prepared to absorb an additional 500 million kuna, however, the entire process is far too slow. Posavec believes that counties should be the project leaders of activities in their surroundings so that absorption of EU funds could be much higher than the current 33%.
