Representatives of parliamentary committees on economic affairs from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia discussed incentives for the development of tourism in the region, concluding that the Adriatic and Ionian sea basins offered inexhaustible possibilities for the development of tourism and stressing the importance of the road infrastructure, Montenegrin media reported on Wednesday.
The Croatian representative, Dragutin Pukles, told the parliamentary forum that the Croatian government devoted great attention to the development of tourism and particularly to environmental protection. "The environment is a very important factor in all activities that will be undertaken in the region in the future," he said.
The Montenegrin representative, Zarija Franovic, said that the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway was of exceptional importance to Montenegro. "This road will contribute to the promotion of tourism in Montenegro," he said.
The representative of the Southeast Europe Stability Pact, Petra Blas, said she was pleased with the conclusions of the meeting. She said that the economic prosperity of the region would be based on investment in tourism and the road infrastructure, and added that the forum indicated very successful cooperation between the parliaments and the Pact.
In a joint declaration, the forum welcomed the initiative of the Italian parliament, which offered its experience in developing a legislative environment in order to encourage the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in all the countries of the region.