The opening of Latvia's consulate in Zagreb will make Croatia-Latvia relations much closer, said PM Kalvitis who is on an official visit to Croatia. Later this afternoon, the Latvian PM is scheduled to open the consulate in downtown Zagreb.
Sanader said that Croatia's future embassy in Riga could cover other Baltic countries and Latvia could also cover from Zagreb other countries in this region.
Sanader and Kalvitis said the two countries had good relations and no outstanding issues. They highlighted cooperation in the economy, defence and culture.
The two ministers today signed an agreement on cooperation in tourism.
"Prime Minister Kalvitis and I have agreed that we should sustain these efforts in order to intensify cooperation in the economy and stimulate our businessmen to carry on with cooperation," Sanader said.
The Croatian PM said that the two countries were currently involved in one major project --the 3. Maj shipyard in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka was currently working on 10 tankers for one Latvian shipbuilding company. The Government of Croatia will issue all necessary guarantees in this respect because there had been some minor problems regarding the exchange rate of the US dollar given the agreement was signed several years ago, Sanader said. We believe that the investors and the Croatian company will certainly find the common language in dealing with this particular issue because the ships are to be completed by the end of 2007, the Croatian PM stressed.
Kalvitis said the the project, worth some US$400 million was important for both countries.
Speaking about Croatia's aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic associations, Kalvitis said that Latvia, which is an EU and NATO member country, fully supports Croatia's joining the two associations.
Sanader invited Kalvitis to visit the Adriatic coast and expressed hope the Latvian prime minister would be the best promoter of Croatia's tourism in his country.