Tourism minister: Gov't to increase quota for foreign workers

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli on Tuesday said that the government would increase the quota for foreign workers at a cabinet meeting tomorrow and that the increase should be "satisfactory" for the tourism sector. "We will increase it somewhat... and the increase will be precisely enough to be satisfactory," Cappelli told reporters outside Government House following an inner cabinet meeting.

Cappelli would not specify what that number might be and just reiterated that it "will satisfy the agreement with HUP (Croatian Employers' Association)."

Asked when quotas would be abolished, Cappelli said "next year, in time."

HUP and the Croatian Tourism Association asked the government on Friday to urgently adopt a decision to raise the quota for foreign workers, saying the tourism season was at risk due to a labour shortage.

A coordinating body in the hospitality sector on Saturday appealed to the government to face reality and to urgently adopt a decision to increase the quota by an additional 5,000 workers in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

The president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) Luka Burilovic has announced that a new bill on foreigners would abolish quotas and allow employers to employ as many workers as they wanted to. (Hina)

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