EBRD PRESIDENT MEETS CROATIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

ZAGREB, Sept 8 (Hina) - The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Jean Lemierre, and his associates met Croatian government officials led by Prime Minister Ivica Racan in Zagreb on Monday to discuss future cooperation between the EBRD and Croatia, particularly in the light of challenges Croatia is facing on its path to European Union membership. #L# Under discussion were efforts by Croatian companies to increase their exports, especially in the shipbuilding, tourism and agricultural sectors, and privatisation in these sectors, Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Linic told a press conference after the meeting. Linic said that they also discussed regional stability and that joint ventures of countries in the region were very important in that context. He said that Prime Minister Racan mentioned the possibility of Europe financing a project to build a highway along the so-called Corridor 5c through Bosnia-Herzegovina. Lemierre described cooperation between the EBRD and Croatia as very good, saying that the bank had invested between 1.2 and 1.3 billion euros in Croatia. This amount should be increased by a further 150 million to 200 million euros to be invested by the end of the year, which is how much the EBRD plans to invest in Croatia annually. Lemierre stressed that Croatia was one of the countries in the region in which the EBRD was mostly cooperating with the private sector. He specified that as much as 70 percent of overall investments went into private companies. In the context of challenges Croatia was facing on its path to the EU, today's meeting also discussed continuation of cooperation on infrastructure projects, especially at local level, promotion of investment in tourism, encouraging Croatian business to increase their exports, and further privatisation, Lemierre said. Croatian officials attending the talks also included Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Deputy Finance Minister Damir Kustrak. (hina) vm