Vidosevic said that the success of Croatia's initiative to ensure regional interconnections and cooperation through CEFTA is also important for the country's geo-political position.
In this context he mentioned that Croatia is in the hub of all important transport corridors connecting the region with the European Union.
The Economy Ministry State Secretary, Vladimir Vrankovic, who was the chief Croatian negotiator on the amended CEFTA, said that in the 2003-2006 period, Croatia's trade with the then CEFTA members climbed almost 40 percent.
That the new agreement was necessary could be seen from the fact that some new signatories to the amended CEFTA were countries with which Croatia recorded a trade surplus and that the first CEFTA agreement proved to be an effective mechanism for preparing countries for full membership in the European Union.
The new CEFTA agreement was signed in December 2006 and it is to go into force upon ratification, expected to take place in mid-2007.
In this way, CEFTA will consist of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Serbia and Kosovo.
Vrankovic hopes that Ukraine may soon join the club.
Before they were admitted to the European Union, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia used to be CEFTA members. The first CEFTA agreement was signed in December 1992.
Romania and Bulgaria signed it in 1997 and 1999 respectively. They entered the EU on 1 January this year, when their CEFTA membership ended.
Croatia and Macedonia have been CEFTA members since 2002 and 2006 respectively.