Croatia
Background
The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.
Franchise Association:
PROMATURO d.o.o.
Sokolgradska 28 10000 Zagreb,Croatia
tel. +385 1 4920-625, fax +385 1 4851-526
gsm. +385 98 228-380,
e-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.fip.com.hr/
Geography
Area: 56,542 sq. km. land area (slightly smaller than West Virginia), 31,067 sq. km. coastal sea area.
Major cities (2002 est.): Capital--Zagreb (779,145). Others--Split (188,694), Rijeka (144,043), Osijek (114,616).
People
Population (July 2008 est.): 4,491,543.
Growth rate (2005 est.): -0.02%.
Ethnic groups: Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census).
Religions: Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Slavic Muslim 1.28%, others 6.52%.
Language: Croatian (South Slavic language, using the Roman script).
Health (2005 est.): Life expectancy--male 70.79 years; female 78.31 years. Infant mortality rate--6.84 deaths/1,000 live births.
Economy
Real GDP growth (2007): 5.6%.
Inflation rate (2007): 2.9%.
Unemployment rate (International Labor Organization method, 2007): 9.6%.
Natural resources: Oil, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $73.36 billion (2008 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $63.95 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $16,900 (2008 est.)
Once one of the wealthiest of the Yugoslav republics, Croatia's economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war as output collapsed and the country missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since 2000, however, Croatia's economic fortunes have begun to improve slowly, with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 6% led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period has remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable. Nevertheless, difficult problems still remain, including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, a growing trade deficit and uneven regional development. The state retains a large role in the economy, as privatization efforts often meet stiff public and political resistance. While macroeconomic stabilization has largely been achieved, structural reforms lag because of deep resistance on the part of the public and lack of strong support from politicians. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform. While long term growth prospects for the economy remain strong, Croatia will face significant pressure as a result of the global financial crisis. Croatia's high foreign debt, anemic export sector, strained state budget, and over-reliance on tourism revenue will result in higher risk to economic stability over the medium term.
|
Copyright © 2010 East Europe Franchise Forum. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
NewsThe worldwide chain of McDonald's fast food restaurants plans to invest around US $1 bn into developing its franchises in Europe next year, the Reuters newswire reported. At the same time, they will pay greater attention to developing countries. "The potential for growth in Central and Eastern Europe is huge. We have only opened 350 restaurants in Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which have a combined population of more than 100 million and flourishing economies", says Executive Director Ralf Alvarez. There are 63 McDonald's restaurants in Ukraine in 19 cities. The total amount of investments since they began operating in Ukraine (since 1997) exceeded US $100 mn. McDonald's Ukraine has around 5,000 employees across the country. Reuters Sep 2008
|
