Croatia attracted €2.83 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006, the highest annual FDI since 1993, according to data from the Croatian National Bank, "Croatia Today" reports.

The FDI in 2006 is nearly twice the amount in 2005, which is €1.42 billion, according to figures released by the Croatian National Bank. Last year the highest amount of FDI came from the Netherlands €1.9 billion, followed by a little over €1 billion from France.

From 1993 through the end of 2006, FDI in Croatia amounted to €14.2 billion.

The Austrians were the most significant foreign investor in Croatia over the past 13 years, with €2.7 billion invested between 1993 and 2006, followed by the Netherlands with €2.6bn, Germany with €2.2bn, France with €1.1bn and Italy with a little over €1bn.

Over the last 13 years, banking was the activity which received the highest amount of direct ownership investment – about €3.6 billion, followed by the chemical industry with €1.7bn, and post and telecommunications with €1.5bn.