UEAPME HOLDS THIS YEAR'S FIRST SESSION IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Feb 28 (Hina) - Members of the presidency of UEAPME, the European Union's organisation for crafts and small and medium enterprises, held their first session of this year at the Croatian Chamber of Crafts (HOK) in Zagreb on Thursday. The aim of the session is to support the development of Croatian crafts and small and medium enterprises, HOK president Stjepan Safran told reporters, adding it was significant the session was being held on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of chambers of crafts and trade in Zagreb, Rijeka, and Osijek. The UEAPME members were acquainted with the government's reforms, said Crafts, Small and Medium Enterprise Minister Zeljko Pecek, who added talks also tackled loan programmes for businessmen and the tax system, given the fact that Croatia has the lowest rates in the region. In Europe small and medium companies are the leaders of development and there is no reason for the situation in Croatia to be different, said UEAPME president Andrea Bonetti. He also pointed to the contribution of small enterprises in the creation of the EU's Gross National Product. Nineteen million economic subjects in the EU account for 70-75 percent of GNP. UEAPME is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation representing, on the European level, the interests of crafts, small and medium enterprises. Established in 1979, UEAPME includes 70 national expert organisations, expert organisations on the European level, and chambers on the national level. HOK has been an associate member since 1995. (hina) ha sb