Speaking at last week's news conference, an official of the embassy, Koichi Miyoshi, said he believed that a low level of Japanese investments into Croatia was a result of an image of Croatia which Japanese business people still had due to the war in 1990s. According to him, the Japanese still regard Croatia as a high-risk country for investments.
Miyoshi said that the most favourable field for enhancing bilateral cooperation might be the use of Croatian seaports as a gateway for the entrance of Japanese products on the European market.
He announced the arrival of officials of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and managers of prominent companies such as Toyota and Mitsubishi at the seminar.
According to figures released b the Croatian State Bureau of Statistics, in 2005 the trade between Croatia and Japan totalled 313 million dollars. The trade rose to 353.14 million in the period from January to the start of December of 2006.
In the first eleven months of 2006, Croatia's export came to 61.02 million dollars and import to 292.11 million.
Croatia exports mainly fresh or frozen fish, which accounted for 95 percent of the entire export to that Asian country.
On the other hand, Croatia mainly imports cars (one fourth of all imports from Japan), and spare parts, car appliances, bicycles, air conditioners etc.