CROATIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ARRIVES IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM, July 30 (Hina) - Croatia's First Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic, on Sunday arrived in Jerusalem on a four-day visit to Israel. Goran Granic is accompanied by Croatian Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Tourism, Science and Technology, Jozo Rados, Tonino Picula, Pave Zupan-Ruskovic and Hrvoje Kraljevic respectively. On Monday, Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic will join them as well. The Croatian officials and their Israeli hosts are expected to discuss the furtherance of the bilateral ties in all fields. On Sunday afternoon, Granic will meet his Israeli counterpart David Levy, and the two are to sign a treaty on trade and the economy co- operation as well as treaty on the mutual stimulation and protection of investments between Croatia and Israel. The agreements should give an impetus to the Croatian-Israeli trade which came just to some 20 million US dollars in 1999. Croatian First Deputy Premier will be received by the acting Israeli President and Parliament (Knesset) chairman, Avraham Burg, and hold talks with Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh as well as with Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert. This visit was agreed during Sneh's tour to Zagreb last March. On that occasion Granic and Sneh agreed on steps aimed at the development of the Israeli-Croatian co-operation. One of the most important points of this visit is negotiations with representatives of the Israeli military industry, that are very interested in a getting job of modernisation of Croatian planes of the MIG 21 type. The job will be worth 110 million dollars. Israelis would like to be engaged in the manufacturing and up-dating of other equipment of Croatian Army as well. (hina) ms