By Josip Bogovic
On April 19, 2024 a brief presentation was introduced by the Croatian Finance Minister, Mr. Marko Primorac, PhD, at the Croatian Embassy in Washington DC primarily highlighting the positive features/accomplishments of his HDZ political party. To start a short definition of Finance Minister/Ministry is in order. A ministry, or other, government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position. By definition and fairness there are many people involved in the above financial matter but Mr. Primorac is its leading spokesman.
“Croatia has completed almost all of its integration goals including being part of the EU and NATO. The EU offers us instruments of development including the European Stability Mechanism which is similar to the IMF (International Monetary Fund), European Solidarity Fund used for Croatia’s earthquake fiscal matters. The ESF is criteria based as are others. The EU has given money for the LNG (Liquified Natural gas) terminal located on the island of KRK, which has recently doubled its capacity. The GDP (gross domestic product) per capita in Croatia has grown to 20,000 euros from 13,000. Croatia is growing 5 times the European average. Public debt to GDP has decreased by 13 percent from 73 to 60. Croatians in America have made significant contributions to the US including Nikola Tesla, Mike Grgich and many others. We see US as a partner, as they helped us in our war for independence. Croatia is open for business and are conducting our second economic review for others to see our stats. We can be a leader in our area including Schengen in programing/informatics, pharmaceuticals, finance, robotics for we have the brainpower for such endeavors and existing companies to prove it. Jabil an American company is constructing a factory in Osijek. The company will develop renewable energy products, electric vehicles, 5G products, and will employ 1,500 workers. We are likely to privatize 30 national companies in the near future.’
One of the most dangerous games being played on the planet is the Money Game. If you play the stock market, you are playing the Money Game. If a country borrows money from the World Bank or the IMF, EU you are a player in the Money Game. Yes, the MG has rules and regulations and fine print. That fine print is so fine it is practically invisible with hidden agendas to boot. What does that mean? Well, if you do not play the game well and do not forecast to some extent the pitfalls of your debt, the institutions you borrow from tell your country what to do. What social services to cut etc. In essence they become a silent legislative branch of your government. Though not everyone knows that except for a few players. The world is based on dominance and control usually by the big economic players; thus the World Bank and IMF are also political institutions.
The outcome is; the more you borrow and the more dependent you are on lending institutions the less independent you are as a nation. This is especially true if you have difficulty paying back the debt or if the loan is mismanaged. “We have been diligent in paying back loans borrowed from the World Bank”, said the young English-speaking minister. Present at the event was an Croatian employee of Circle a US crypto company. She suggested to the minister for Croatia to get on board with crypto related finance/development and become a leader in that FIN -Tech space. Hopefully some fruit will bare from that conversation.
We wish Mr. Primorac and the team all the best as they play the Money Game. The way they play and the outcome of their decisions does affect almost every citizen of our country,
One of the most appreciative aspects of the Croatian mindset is that a regular person can have a personal dialog with people in all aspects of Croatian professional life. It would be difficult for that to happen in the US and have a dialog over a glass of wine with Janet Yellen. The gathering was made possible by the Croatian Embassy and HURA.
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