U.S. TRADE OFFICE OPENED IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, June 23 (Hina) - The U.S trade office for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina was officially opened on Monday's ceremony in Zagreb. The opening ceremony was attended by the acting U.S. Assistant Trade Secretary, Marjory Searing, Croatian Economy Minister Nenad Porges, and U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith. This event reflected great progress in U.S.-Croatian economic relations after Croatia became an independent state. This was a part of our commitment to the peace process in Croatia and in the region, because we regarded the economic development as a central part of the process, Ambassador Galbraith said. Croatia is being transformed into a country that has best prospects of economic prosperity and a country that is among most propitious ones in the region for foreign investment. Plans for the opening of this office started more than a year ago, during the tragic visit of a former U.S. Trade Secretary, Ronald Brown, Ms. Searing said adding that further steps were made during Brown's successor Mike Kantor's visit to Croatia last summer. The Zagreb office would cover Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, she said and added that the U.S. Trade Department designed special plans for the economic cooperation with each of the mentioned country respecting particular circumstances under which the countries were and the different stage of their economic development. The office will be run by Patrick Hughes. Croatian Minister Porges voiced satisfaction with the fact that the U.S. Administration found that Croatia was a very brisk area in the 'Europe in transition'. He said that a share of the United States in the entire Croatian trade was relatively small - about four percent or 300 million dollars, and added that the situation concerning direct American investment in the country was not better. Croatia must be directed toward new markets and new sources of direct investment such as countries of NAFTA (Northern American Free Trade Area), and the United States is one of the key factors in this regard, Porges said. The United States has more than 130 trade offices all over the world. (hina) jn mš 231912 MET jun 97