The fourth congress in Cavtat, organised by the International Roads Federation and the Croatian society called Via Vita, under the auspices of the Croatian Government and the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, pooled some 300 participants from Croatia and abroad, including ministers and officials from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro and Slovenia as well as representatives of the European Commission, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.
Kalmeta said Croatia had so far built 840 kilometres of highways and semi high-ways and was planning to build an additional 260 kilometres until 2008.
The road construction will be financed from Croatian own resources, including road toll, contributions from the sold fuel and loans taken from Croatian and foreign banks as well as through the concession models.
In the long term Croatia is planning to have 1,500 kilometres in the network of its highways, the minister said.
Commenting on the construction of the Croatian section of the Adriatic-Ionian highway, Kalmeta said 285 kilometres in this direction would be opened for traffic this year, including a section from Rupe at the border with Slovenia to the seaport of Rijeka, and the Zuta Lokva-Split stretch. This covers 52 percent of the Croatian section of that international highway, the minister added.
Croatia continues to stress the great importance of the 1997 Helsinki Transport Conference which defined networks of pan-European transport corridors, but which failed to add the Adriatic-Ionian highway to pan-European corridors, although it connects seven countries starting from Trieste, Italy, and reaching Greece, Kalmeta said.
He added that following last year's joint declaration on the matter, which was signed by five ministers and which is to be signed by Italy and Slovenia, Croatia was insisting on adding this highway to the network of pan-European corridors.
Kalmeta added that he also expected the Stability Pact to support this project, which he said was important for the strengthening of the political and economic stability in the region.