According to a statement issued by the Office of the Croatian President, Mesic said that Croatia and the Czech Republic had very good bilateral relations in all areas, but that it was necessary to enhance economic ties since "there are possibilities and a will on both sides."
Mesic said he was pleased that every fourth Czech spent his vacations on the Croatian Adriatic coast, and called on Czech companies to increase their investment in the tourism infrastructure in Croatia.
The Croatian president also thanked the Czech Republic for its support to Croatia in Euro-Atlantic integration processes.
The Czech prime minister reiterated that Croatia could count on Czech support in all its efforts. He agreed that it was necessary to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries, saying that a Croatian-Czech business forum, which was due to take place today, would certainly contribute to that.
Paroubek said that investment in Croatia would increase once it joined the European Union and NATO. He added that his country was interested in investing in small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia, particularly in the tourist sector.
The two officials agreed that the protection of the rights of the Czech minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in the Czech Republic was at a high level and that this was evidence of the democratic maturity of the two countries.