HUNGARIAN-CROATIAN BUSINESS CONFERENCE

ZAGREB, Feb 27 (Hina) - Developing a joint infrastructure, cooperation in the power industry, and joint development and use of the Rijeka port are some of many strategically important areas of economic cooperation between Croatia and Hungary, Tibor Suelt, head of the Hungarian Trade Office in Zagreb, said at a Hungarian- Croatian business conference in Zagreb on Wednesday. The conference was organised by the Hungarian agency for stimulating investments and trade (ITDH), the Hungarian Trade Office in Zagreb and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK). Attending were representatives from 18 Hungarian and around 60 Croatian companies. Suelt stressed the importance of economic cooperation and the flow of capital between the two countries. He added Hungary would gladly accept Croatian investments. The biggest Croatian investment so far is the construction of a plant for the production of "Vegeta" food additive by Koprivnica's food-processing company Podravka in Mohac. That is why the ITDH plans to organise a conference for potential investors from Croatia in Hungary this June, and hopes to attract the pharmaceutical company Pliva and the oil company Ina. At the same time, said Suelt, the number of Hungarian companies wishing to invest in Croatia is increasing. As an example he pointed to an agreement on investments into the Rijeka port, signed early this year. The agreement refers to a concession for the construction of a grain silo, into which Hungary will invest US$28 million as well as direct goods towards the port. The said investment is not a state investment, the port of Rijeka is not and will never be a Hungarian port, as some Croatian media reported, Suelt said. He added the investment was exclusively private capital as were investments into the Tribunj marina. Hungarian companies are also interested in cooperation in tourism, the modernisation of rail and road routes and development of small and medium enterprise. An agreement on free trade has significantly contributed to cooperation between Croatia and Hungary. Under the agreement, which went into force on January 1, industrial products and food from the two countries are exempt from customs duties. In line with CEFTA principles, duties on agricultural and food products are cancelled for a smaller group of products. For some products the maximum customs fees are set, while for the third group of products, customs rates are decreased for certain annual quota. Trade between Croatia and Hungary in 2001 amounted to US$286 million. Hungarian exports to Croatia in the said year reached US$226 million, which is a 30 percent increase in relation to 2000, while Croatia's exports to Hungary stagnated, totalling US$60 million. (hina) np sb