ZAGREB, March 2, 2018 – Parliament on Friday unanimously amended the law on the stimulation of investments which should pave the way for an increase in investments in projects, particularly by small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, and the amended legislation is also expected to activate idle state property and contribute to balanced regional development.
The amendments introduce three major new provisions. The first relates to stimulating and using subsidies for micro-enterprises which provide the opportunity to use subsidies to procure used equipment up to five years of age. That equipment will be recognised as investment costs unlike until now when only new equipment was recognised.
The law also introduces more favourable conditions and extends the possibilities of using subsidies for ICT and for entrepreneurs in that sector.
The third novelty refers to activating idle state property located in local government areas. It will be possible to lease idle state property to entrepreneurs for a period of ten years without any rental costs under the condition that the investor invests three million euro within a period of three years and that at the same time the value of the property is increased by 50%. After the expiry of the ten-year lease, the entrepreneur will be given the right to buy that property.
Parliament also amended the Law on Vocational Education with the key change being a combination of school-based and workplace training. Vocational education will be implemented in three ways: a combined programme, colloquially known as dual education, in schools with work practice for an employer, and an integrated vocational education programme.
The law introduces another key novelty – regional competence centres that will in fact be centres of excellence in vocational education. One billion kuna has been secured from European Union funds for these centres in five priority areas: tourism, engineering and electrical engineering, ICT, agriculture and healthcare, Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak said in parliament recently.
