CROATIA AND HUNGARY ANNOUNCE NEGOTIATIONS ON FREE TRADE ZONE ( Editorial: --> 2054 )

( Editorial: --> 2054 ) BUDAPEST, Nov 19 (Hina) - Hungary and Croatia have agreed to start negotiations on establishing a free trade zone, Hungarian and Croatian prime ministers Gyula Horn and Zlatko Matesa said in Budapest on Wednesday. Although trade between Croatia and Hungary has been developing dynamically, there is still a lot of room for promoting economic relations, they said. The two prime ministers first met in private and then were joined by delegations of their respective governments. They described relations between their countries as good and open. The Croatian delegation, on a day-long visit to Budapest, included Economy Minister Nenad Porges, Tourism Minister Sergej Morsan and Transport and Communications Minister Zeljko Luzavec. Hungary is interested in participating in the privatisation process in Croatia and investing in the development of infrastructure including reconstruction of Rijeka port and building a motorway from Rijeka via Zagreb to the Hungarian border, Horn said. Recalling that among displaced people from the Croatian Danube region were also ethnic Hungarians, Horn said the Budapest government wanted to help them return to their homes and to participate in the postwar reconstruction of Croatia. Matesa said Croatia would propose projects for that purpose, such as reconstruction of Vukovar port or construction of a Danube-Sava canal. We also discussed opening traffic between areas close to the border between the two countries and the possibility of Croatian and Hungarian citizens crossing the common border only with identity cards, Matesa said. Hungary supports Croatia's bid to enter the World Trade Organisation and to become a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) as soon as possible, Horn said. Horn said his country was very interested in strengthening relations between Croatia and NATO, and Croatia and the EU. He added that Hungary and Croatia were also interested in investing in the economic reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Both prime ministers stressed the importance of the protection of the Croatian minority in Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Croatia. (hina) vm jn 191716 MET nov 97