CEI MEMBER-STATES TO HOLD 1ST ECONOMIC FORUM IN ZAGREB IN NOV

( Editorial: --> 4363 ) ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - The annual summit of Premiers and Foreign Ministers of Central European Initiative's (CEI) 16 member-states will take place in Zagreb on November 20 and 21. CEI member-states will stage their first economic forum at the Zagreb Trade Fair between November 19 and 21. According to estimates, it will gather more than 400 businessmen from CEI and European Union (EU) countries. The forum's goal is to acquaint businessmen and investors willing to conduct business in Central and Eastern Europe with business conditions in these countries, it was said at a Zagreb press conference on Wednesday. The forum will also be an opportunity for meetings with high- ranking state officials. Croatian Economy Minister Nenad Porges said Croatia's presiding the CEI this year was an opportunity to strengthen relations with other CEI member-countries, especially those which are also members of the EU, such as Italy and Austria. Croatia is a small country with a small market, he recalled, adding its medium-term path was globalisation. The importance of the CEI economic forum is corroborated by the fact that Croatia's exchange of commodities with CEI countries accounts for 48 per cent of its entire exchange. With a commodity exchange of US$6.5 billion, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are Croatia's strongest partners. The chief organiser of the forum is the CEI Secretariat for Projects at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Co- organisers are the Ernst & Young company from Vienna, Fiera di Milano from Milan, and the Zagreb Trade Fair. Reporters asked Minister Porges about the latest announcements that Croatia's entry into the PHARE programme would be postponed once again. Porges recalled the political and economic conditions Brussels placed before Croatia. He said that the economic conditions had been complied with, but that the political ones were of the kind making Croatia a hostage of EU's regional policy to this part of Europe. (hina) ha jn 302033 MET sep 98