CROATIA EXPECTS KUWAIT'S INVESTMENTS

KUWAIT, March 9 (Hina) - Croatia and Kuwait will strengthen their economic cooperation, and Croatia expects Kuwaiti investments in its economy, Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa said in Kuwait City on Sunday at the end of a two-day official visit. Matesa arrived in Kuwait on Saturday at the head of the Croatian delegation to stimulate the almost non-existent economic cooperation between the two countries. "We can be satisfied with the results of the talks. This particularly applies to the possibility of Kuwait's investing in Croatia," Matesa told reporters, adding that "these investments will come soon as part of clearly defined projects." Croatia generates more than 80 percent of its overall commodity trade revenues with four European countries, Germany, Italy, Austria and Slovenia. A recent tour of Indonesia and Malaysia by Matesa and the Croatian business delegation, as well as the visit to Kuwait, are aimed at opening new areas for trade. On Sunday morning, the Croatian delegates met for talks with representatives of the Kuwaiti Investment Agency (KIA) and business people. Kuwait earns about $15 billion a year from oil sale and invests a large portion of those funds in projects in other countries. "Most of the current Kuwaiti financial presence in Croatia is in loans but we plan to expand it to some other acceptable investments," KIA director Ali Rashaid al-Bader said. Croatia owes Kuwait about $200 million, which is actually a part of the former Yugoslavia's debt Croatia has assumed along with interest. The two sides discussed the possible transformation of this debt into Kuwaiti investments. "We discussed the possibility of taking over a Croatian shipyard for construction of ships for Kuwait, as well as hotels and petrochemical complexes," Croatian Economy Minister Davor Stern said, adding that those projects were still in the stage and that they required a lot of work and analysis. Croatia proposed that Kuwait provide financial resources while its oil company, INA, would provide know-how in third countries. The Kuwaiti oil company expressed a desire to enter into "a strategic partnership with INA as well as with (Adriatic oil pipeline operator) Jadranski Naftovod," INA director Andrija Kojakovic said. Kojakovic said that Kuwait might launch a project for reconstruction and development of installations in Croatian refineries which it would finance. The director of the Croatian Investment Stimulation Agency, Vanja Kalogjera, said that Kuwait showed an interest in the transformation of the Croatian debt into its investments and in the possibility of investing about $250 million in the Croatian economy. "The Kuwaitis will decide where to invest by the middle of next month," Kalogjera said. The KIA director said that his agency had invested $20 million in the Croatian economy and that it "sees a lot of good opportunities for investment." (hina) vm 091512 MET mar 97