CROATIA AND SLOVENIA SIGN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

( Editorial: --> 7951 ) ZAGREB, Dec 12 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa and his Slovenian counterpart Janez Drnovsek signed a free trade agreement in Zagreb on Friday. They also signed an agreement on investment promotion and protection and an agreement on combined transport. The two prime ministers described the signing of the agreements as a very important step in the further development of mutual relations. The free trade agreement is the first such agreement Croatia has signed with a member state of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). In order to become a CEFTA member, Croatia has to sign free trade agreements with all six member states, join the World Trade Organisation and sign an agreement on associate membership with the European Union. Matesa said that Slovenia was Croatia's most important economic partner. He described the talks with Drnovsek as very useful and successful. Matesa said some outstanding issues which had arisen after the two countries had gained independence would be solved soon. The finance ministers of the two countries should meet next month to discuss the debt of Ljubljanska Banka to Croatian depositors. Matesa announced that problems related to the joint nuclear power plant Krsko, situated on Slovenian territory, would be solved by June 1998. Drnovsek said that Slovenia supported Croatia's bid to enter international institutions, adding that the signing of the free trade agreement brought Croatia closer to the CEFTA. "We want to go together in the direction of European integration processes," Drnovsek said. "I assess that we have opened a new stage in our mutual relations." Drnovsek said that the next year could be very important for solving some open issues. Representatives of the ministries of labour and social welfare of Croatia and Slovenia signed an administrative agreement on implementing the social insurance agreement. (hina) vm jn 121720 MET dec 97