"Punjabis are true international entrepreneurs," said the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia, His Excellency Mr. Dino Debeljuh to a huge gathering of Punjabi businessmen at
Chandigarh.
He remembered his visits to various big cities of the world and meeting Punjabis in almost all of them. Admiring their valor and business acumen, he invited them to invest in Croatia. He
said that Croatians were also a very hard working people, who are rebuilding the nation quite like the way Punjabis rebuilt their businesses after partition. Emotionally comparing the
painful process of transition from former Yugoslavia to present day Croatia to the division of united India in 1947, he pointed out the fact that Croatia as a modern nation is very
young.
Having traveled from Delhi by Car, he appreciated the improvement in Indian roads and mentioned the recent completion of a long and vital highway in Croatia. He made a jovial mention of
the fact that a large part of Indian road transport business is owned by Punjabis. He took this issue further and pointed out the vast business potential of the road transport of goods
coming by sea to Europe, if routed through the Rijeka port in Croatia rather than conventional port routes like Hamburg.
A teacher of yoga, His Excellency Mr. Dino Debeljuh loves Indian food, with milder spices. A multi-talented leader of his region in Croatia, he has been a member of national parliament
three times. He praised the Indian democratic system. Talking on a spiritual note, he spoke very high of the Indian contributions to the world. An astute believer in non-violence, he
spoke of his aggrieved emotional state when he had to accept a Punjabi sword as a token of honor. A diplomat to the very core, he said that he believed in talking out the differences, if
any.
He was accompanied by Mr. Boris Suran, First Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs. Mr. Boris Suran appreciated the City Beautiful by comparing it with Barcelona. He was also very
appreciative of the Punjabi spirit of entrepreneurship and invited the enthusiastic businessmen present in the meeting to visit Croatia for a first-hand experience of the business
environment there.