The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in the Croatian Economy

The purpose of this study is to assess the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Croatia. The main characteristics of FDI in that country are described, along with its impacts on employment, fiscal revenues and trade. The study first looks at Croatia’s balance of payments statistics, compiled by the Croatian National Bank. Croatia has attracted a relatively significant amount of FDI, especially when FDI per capita statistics are compared with those of its neighbours. Reinvested earnings as a percentage of FDI have also increased in the past few years. However, most FDI has been concentrated in the services sector, especially financial services and retail andwholesale trade, reflecting foreign investor interest in the domestic market. Moreover, while greenfield FDI was higher than acquisition-related FDI in 2003-05, only 10% of manufacturing FDI was greenfield...