ZAGREB, Feb 9 (Hina) - Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Andrija Hebrang, on Monday received Adolfo Urso, Italy's Deputy Minister of Productive Activities, the government's public relations
office said in a press release.
ZAGREB, Feb 9 (Hina) - Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Health and Social Welfare, Andrija Hebrang, on Monday received Adolfo
Urso, Italy's Deputy Minister of Productive Activities, the
government's public relations office said in a press release.#L#
Hebrang and Urso discussed economic relations between the two
countries and agreed that they were very good and intensive and that
there were not many outstanding issues in bilateral relations.
Italy is Croatia's first foreign trade partner with 4,600 Italian
companies operating in Croatia, Urso said adding that cooperation in
the banking sector was the main priority given Croatia's role as the
financial and banking centre of the region.
Urso also informed Hebrang of investment projects and plans for
cooperation between Italian and Croatian companies.
Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister said his country was very much
interested in cooperation with Italy, particularly in the sector of
small and medium-sized businesses, as well as in possibilities of
exchanging technology and know-how.
There are great opportunities for cooperation in the tourism, wood-,
metal- and food-processing industries as well as in the oil industry,
Hebrang added. He thanked Rome for its support to Croatia on its road
towards the European Union.
The head of the Croatian parliament's committee on human and minority
rights, Furio Radin, also held talks with the Italian official.
Radin voiced satisfaction with the well-developed economic and
cultural relations between Croatia and Italy, and expressed confidence
that the ties would be further promoted.
Urso commended the Italian Union, an organisation of ethnic Italians
in Croatia, for its initiatives and efforts to preserve historical and
cultural heritage.
(Hina) ms sb