Sanader said that the Peljesac project would bring benefits to the entire country as citizens of Croatia would no longer need a passport to reach the southernmost part of the country.
The southernmost part of Croatia is cut off from the rest of the country at Neum, where neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina has a narrow outlet to the Adriatic Sea.
"Croatia will finally be physically connected," the prime minister said.
He said that only a small section of a future 102 kilometre long highway from Ploce to Dubrovnik would run through Bosnia-Herzegovina.
One of the most important infrastructure projects undertaken by the government, the Peljesac bridge will be 2,300 metres long and the cost of construction is estimated at between 250 and 300 million euros along with access roads, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Tourism, Transport and Development, Bozidar Kalmeta, said at the opening ceremony.
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2008.