ZAGREB, Nov 30 (Hina) - Croatia and Turkey initialled a free trade agreement in Ankara on Thursday, the Croatian Economy Ministry said in a statement. It is expected the agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2002 in Ankara,
where the 3rd session of a joint Croatian-Turkish economic committee should take place at the ministerial level. After the signing, the agreement will go through parliamentary procedure and its implementation is expected to start in mid- or second half of 2002. When the agreement goes into force, Turkey will cancel customs duties on all industrial products from Croatia, while Croatia will cancel customs duties on most industrial products from Turkey. Customs tariffs on the most sensitive imports from Turkey, such as textile, iron and petroleum products, will be cancelled gradually, in 2006 and 2007. The agreement has opened another big market without limits for Cro
ZAGREB, Nov 30 (Hina) - Croatia and Turkey initialled a free trade
agreement in Ankara on Thursday, the Croatian Economy Ministry said
in a statement.
It is expected the agreement will be signed in the first quarter of
2002 in Ankara, where the 3rd session of a joint Croatian-Turkish
economic committee should take place at the ministerial level.
After the signing, the agreement will go through parliamentary
procedure and its implementation is expected to start in mid- or
second half of 2002.
When the agreement goes into force, Turkey will cancel customs
duties on all industrial products from Croatia, while Croatia will
cancel customs duties on most industrial products from Turkey.
Customs tariffs on the most sensitive imports from Turkey, such as
textile, iron and petroleum products, will be cancelled gradually,
in 2006 and 2007.
The agreement has opened another big market without limits for
Croatia's exporters.
Negotiations on the free trade agreement between Croatia and Turkey
began a year ago in Zagreb.
The agreement was initialled by Croatian Assistant Economy
Minister Olgica Spevec and a deputy under-secretary at the Turkish
Foreign Trade Under-Secretariat, Baki Alkacar.
The two officials expressed satisfaction with the initialling of
the agreement and hope the agreement would improve the two
countries' economic cooperation.
Spevec and Alkacar hope the agreement will increase the countries'
trade, which in the first nine months of 2001 amounted to US$35
million, which is 0.34 percent of Croatia's overall foreign trade.
In said period, Croatia exported US$6.2 million worth of goods to
Turkey while Turkish exports to Croatia amounted to US$28.7
million.
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