ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - A German-Croatian chamber of industry and trade was established in Zagreb on Thursday at a ceremony at which a charter was signed to that effect. The ceremony was attended, among others, by German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder and Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan.
ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - A German-Croatian chamber of industry and
trade was established in Zagreb on Thursday at a ceremony at which a
charter was signed to that effect. The ceremony was attended, among
others, by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Croatian Prime
Minister Ivica Racan. #L#
"The establishment of this chamber is proof that Croatia can be an
interesting partner to the European country with the most developed
technology and economy, although it is seven times smaller and has
twenty times less residents," Racan said in a speech to numerous
guests at the ceremony.
The charter on the establishment of the German-Croatian chamber of
industry and trade was signed, apart from Racan and Schroeder, by
Croatian Chamber of Economy director Nadan Vidosevic and German
Deputy Economy and Labour Minister Dietmar Staffelt.
Racan said that one of the reasons for establishing the chamber was
the fact that today's per capita GDP in Croatia was comparable with
those in countries about to join the European Union.
Chancellor Schroeder said in his speech that "in ten years' time
Croatia has made impressive achievements, in conditions which we
(in Germany) can hardly imagine, which is why they are even more
important". He added that the Croatian government and people should
know that his country highly appreciated those achievements.
Croatia has not only embarked on the path of internal economic and
political reforms but has also assumed "great responsibility for
the entire region".
"Croatia represents a whiff of stability in a region marked by
instability," Schroeder said, adding that events in the region
affected the rest of the world. Today's Croatia is a country which
makes efforts to maintain good neighbourly relations with the rest
of the region and is at the same time a pro-European country, so it
is not only in its interest but also in the interest of Europe that
it be given an opportunity to join the European community, he said.
"When the economic and political situation in Croatia is compared
to that in other countries, for example Bulgaria and Romania, one
feels that Croatia has reached their level and I believe that the
(European) Commission will have to realise that," Schroeder said
speaking about Croatia's candidacy for EU membership.
The German-Croatian chamber of industry and trade is the first
bilateral German foreign trade chamber in the former Yugoslavia.
German companies have invested around 1.7 billion dollars in
Croatia since 1993. In 2002 various types of investment were
successfully realised in the area of housing construction, food and
construction industries, and tourism.
(hina) rml sb