FRENCH REPS EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN INVESTING INTO CROATIA

ZAGREB, June 29 (Hina) - The presence of French business people on the Croatian market is not sufficient in comparison to the competition and it is our wish to change that situation, the president of the French Employers' Association (MEDEF), Francois Perigot, told a news conference in Zagreb on Thursday. The news conference was organised at the end of the visit of a MEDEF delegation, which lasted several days. During the visit, French representatives met almost all government ministers, President Stipe Mesic and their colleagues from the Croatian Employers' Association. The French delegation, which also included representatives of some 20 major French companies and banks (such as Alcatel, Bouygues, BNP, Credit Lyonnais, Gaz de France), demonstrated an exceptional interest in investing into Croatia. French companies want to invest into projects in the areas of infrastructure, environmental protection, power production, gas storage and distribution, telecommunications, media, tourism as well as in the purchase of fire-fighting vehicles. Of these projects, the most interesting ones are Zagreb airport, Zagreb- Rijeka highway, a railway linking Hungary and the Adriatic coast via Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Beli Manastir-Ploce railway) and the Rijeka port, as well as the purchase of Croatia's largest press distributor 'Tisak'. According to Perigot, MEDEF's aim is to help French companies invest in Croatia and secure contacts with persons who are making political decisions. The French representatives said they were impressed with the determination and courage of the Croatian government to open up to the world and be oriented to the market economy, as well as to carry out the necessary economic reforms. (hina) rml