CROATIAN TOURISM MINISTER MEETS ITALIAN AMBASSADOR

ZAGREB, April 4 (Hina) - Croatian Tourism Minister Pave Zupan Ruskovic on Tuesday held talks with Italian Ambassador Fabio Pigliapoco and Carlo Perot, secretary at the Italian Embassy, on continuing cooperation in tourism, especially as regards the private sector and the training of tourist personnel. The two sides also supported the continuation of the joint promotion of a project called "The Adriatic - The Sea of Peace" on the third markets, Croatian Tourism Ministry officials reported. Croatia and Italy are interested in intensifying cooperation in regional initiatives, especially as regards the Adriatic initiative, whose constituent conference will be held in Ancona in May under the sponsorship of the European Union. It is expected that the event will be opened by the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi. The Italian side expressed readiness to support Croatia's associate membership in the EU and Partnership for Peace. The two sides emphasised the importance of tourism for improving cooperation between the two countries. In 1999 Italy was the second, i.e. fourth tourist generating country for Croatia with 502,000 arrivals and 2.5 million overnight stays. (hina) rml