Italian Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Roberto Antonione, who attended the meeting, called on Croatia to fully implement its agreement on association with the EU, including provisions pertaining to the purchase of private property by EU citizens, nautical tourism, and submarine activity, sectors which he said had seen trends that were not positive. "Those are not huge problems, they are rather bureaucratic indications which are not helping on the road of European integration," Antonione said.
He confirmed that Italy was making efforts so that the date for the start of Croatia-EU membership talks was determined as soon as possible.
The Italian official warned about problems encountered by some Italian citizens wishing to buy real estate in Croatia, saying that in each such case the Croatian authorities sought approval from the Croatian Foreign Ministry. After a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini in Farnesina, information was sent to the Italian Embassy in Zagreb and a solution to those problems was urged at a meeting with the Croatian Foreign Minister, Il Piccolo quoted Antonione as saying.
The state secretary for entrepreneurship at the Croatian Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Ministry, Tajana Kesic Sapic, said at the meeting that Croatian laws on private property were equal for all investors, whether they were from Italy, Austria, Germany or France, and that Croatia wished greater Italian investments, the daily said.
Speaking at the meeting, held under the slogan "Local to Local: Istria and Kvarner in Pordenone", the President of the Italian region Friuli Venezia Guilia, Riccardo Illy, said the establishment of a Euro-region in the area of regions covered by the Alpe-Adria community could contribute to the process of integration with the EU. Commenting on economic cooperation, Illy indicated the possibility of increased investments in tourism, commerce, farming, fisheries as well as in research and higher education.
Participants in the meeting also heard information about bilateral trade showing that the growth of trade in 2005 had been slowed down in comparison to 2004, but that it was continuing, the ANSA news agency reported. According to the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, trade between the two countries in the first four months of 2005 saw an increase of 4.9 percent, while in 2004 it increased by 10.4 percent in relation to 2003.
Italian exports to Croatia in 2005 have increased by 3.7 percent to $902 million, while Croatia's exports to Italy have risen by 6.8 percent to $601 million, according to the Institute.