The session is dedicated to foreign direct investments, public-private partnership, and obstacles to trade among countries in the region.
Opening the plenary part of the session, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader recalled that the European Council was expected to make a decision in mid-December on launching Croatia-EU membership negotiations in early 2005.
Membership talks and admission will have a crucial impact on Croatia's economy, but they will also impact other South-East European countries, Sanader said. This was proven by yesterday's meetings of political leaders of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, during which it was stated several times that Serbia and Montenegro saw Croatia's path to the EU as a model for its own European integration, he added.
Presenting Croatia's most important economic indicators, the PM underlined the goals of Croatia's future economic policy, which will be contained in the Pre-accession Economic Programme that is being completed, including the improvement of the investment climate and an increase in Croatian investments in countries in the region.
BAC president Pierre Daures said that this Stability Pact body pooled representatives from 25 countries in the region, including the countries' leading institutions and companies, which share the goal of contributing to regional development by doing business and making investments together, through free trade, etc.
A member of the Agrokor company management board and the BAC, Ljerka Puljic, said the BAC was the place where Croatia could acquaint the European Commission with its economic situation, reforms and progress made in those areas.
After the plenary part, the BAC session will continue with round table discussions on foreign direct investments, public-private partnership and obstacles to regional trade.
The BAC is an independent body comprising business people from different countries who are active in local, regional and international environments in key economic sectors such as telecommunications, power industry, infrastructure, agriculture, food industry, etc. The BAC covers activities in eight EU candidate countries and countries which expect to be nominated candidates - Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldavia, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro.