INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A 2006 file photo of the walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, from a hillside.
A short hike from the fishing village of Brijesta, where the Croatian mainland's rocky coastline across the
bay melts into the Adriatic, a four-story concrete pier scrapes the blue horizon.The hulking eyesore is part of an abandoned bridge project,
an ever-present reminder of how the forces of history and squabbling politicians failed a region of about 100,000 people
It now has become a new symbol: where the benefits of European Union membership converge with China's expanding influence.Thanks to
Croatia's EU membership, the 526 million-euro ($621 million) plan is being revived
State-owned China Communications Construction Group Ltd
plans to restart the project halted in 2007 this year
The 28-nation bloc agreed to provide 85 percent of the financing, with the Croatian government pitching in the rest
The four-lane bridge, which will cut travel time by several hours to some parts of the Peljesac peninsula, is set to open in 2021."The
bridge is our salvation," said Zdravko Lazic, 38, as he tossed freshly harvested oysters into salt-encrusted buckets on Brijesta's small
"It'll probably be less quiet once the bridge is built, but it will bring tourists and keep people from leaving.China is already deeply
embedded in Europe, owning everything from ports in Spain, Greece, and Belgium to a German airport
It's also pushing into the continent's former Communist East, with investment ranging from wind farms in Poland and a brewery in the Czech
Republic to software engineering in Bulgaria and car-part manufacturing in Hungary.Infrastructure projects have been especially popular,
including the international airport of the Albanian capital Tirana, a shipping terminal in the Romanian port city of Constanta and a
high-speed rail upgrade linking the Hungarian and Serbian capitals.The bridge project focuses on the Peljesac peninsula, part of the
Croatia's southernmost county, most of which is separated from the main bulk of country by a 9-kilometer (5.6 miles) coastal stretch that
gives sea access to Bosnia
What was an administrative quirk when the neighbors were partners within Yugoslavia became a pain after independence and a major headache
after Croatia joined the EU in 2013. Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic"We're not an island, but we do feel like one," said Vedrana Kelleher,
the owner of Savills Plc's Croatian unit who focuses on real estate in the county
"We feel we're not really part of the European Union, we're so aware of this territorial disconnection.It's not that the entire region is a
The county seat is Dubrovnik, a historic city where tourism is booming in part thanks to its role as King's Landing in HBO's Game of Thrones
and Canto Bight in Star Wars VIII
Even the bustling world heritage site is difficult to reach by car from the rest of Croatia, through ferries and international borders --
and it's still a sharp contrast to the 40-mile-long Peljesac peninsula.Home to 8,000 people and some of the country's best vineyards, it's
also the least developed part of the country's winding Adriatic coast, held back by the difficulty of access
The town of Trpanj, for example, is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the mainland, but visitors have to drive more than 10 times as much
along the coast, dipping in and out of Bosnia, or catch a ferry that runs four times daily and has limited capacity, which could mean being
stranded overnight."Traveling through two border crossings makes it unpredictable, and in the summer it can take hours," Dubrovnik Mayor
"The bridge will change all that."The oversea link will provide instant access
It will add 7.2 percentage points to the region's economic growth over 15 years while raising employment by increasing trade and tourism,
according a government study done in 2006 -- officials haven't been able to provide a more recent estimate
Croatia's drive to join the EU's borderless Schengen zone will get a boost and there are benefits to the environment by diverting millions
of cars each year away from the congested single-lane Bosnian border.It will also complete a plan decades in the making
The project first surfaced in the 1990s after Yugoslavia broke up, but there was little progress because of a bloody war that devastated
much of the region, including Dubrovnik
Construction finally began in 2007, with the first two support piers erected on either side
The global economic crisis started the following year, sending Croatia into years of recession and funding dried up."I'm absolutely
frustrated that we have waited so long," said Nikola Dobroslavic, the head of Dubrovnik county
"But Croatia at the time didn't have the financial abilities to build the bridge by itself."On the mainland, the construction is already
bringing business to the village of Komarna
Restaurants are expanding, new ones are opening, ready to cater to the builders
Across the bay, it will take a while longer
At Trpanj, the hotel next to the ferry has barely changed since the socialist days
Up the peninsula, eateries are scarce even though fresh oyster is abundant."Peljesac has remained undeveloped because it was out of an easy
reach," said Kelleher of Savills
"When tourists arrive, investors will, too."
