PM Milanović Arrives in US for ‘Tech Tour’

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović has arrived in the United States ahead of his ‘tech tour’, a tour which will see him meet with the heads of IT giants Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Hewlett-Packard to discuss potential investment and cooperation…

Milanović was greeted by the Croatian community on Sunday in Gig Harbor, Washington, and the Prime Minister was surprised to see so many Croats turn out.

“After being a politician for a long time, you become flat-lined,” he said. “I didn’t expect this,” admitting that he had no idea that Croatian emigrants had settled in the small fishing town in the late 1800s on one side of the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

“Somehow it turns out that it is not by chance that our people are in Seattle, Alaska, Tasmania, New Zealand, Tierra del Fuego, they are always ends of the world in which only the smartest and most stubborn people succeed,” the PM said.

A number of the local Croatian community turn up to see the PM

Milanović, who is in the US with Science and Education Minister Vedran Mornar and Health Minister Siniša Varga, will visit San Francisco, New York and Seattle where he will meet introduce Croatia to the heads of the largest IT firms in the US.

Milanović thinks Croatia has something to offer these firms, including being close to the heart of Europe, an educated population, excellent infrastructure and a government which knows what it wants.

“I strongly believe in that last one (a government which knows what it wants), some do not see that in Croatia, other nations in Europe have those other attributes also, the competition is high, but we want to bring the wealthiest and smartest to Croatia,” said Milanović.