US,CRO,BH SIGN MEMORANDUM ON RECONSTRUCTION OF CRO,BH

DUBROVNIK, July 11 (Hina) - U.S. Trade Secretary Mickey Kantor on Thursday held separate talks with premiers Zlatko Matesa of Croatia and Hasan Muratovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Dubrovnik, south Croatia, followed by a joint meeting of delegations from the U.S., Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the meeting, Matesa, Muratovic and the manager of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, Joe Grandmaison, signed a Memorandum on Understanding for Investments in the Reconstruction and Development of the Ploce Port, in the amount of USD 500,000. Matesa, Muratovic and Kantor signed a Memorandum on Understanding on Economic Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure Objects in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kantor said the memorandums symbolized the real purpose of this mission, which was the promotion of economic relations between the U.S., Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.S. trade and economic strategy was based on the normalization of trade relations between Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina, on giving the U.S. aid programme to Bosnia a trade dimension, on strengthening U.S. business interests and on expanding the trade capacities of this area, Kantor said. He said he hoped that Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Tuzla and Zagreb would become important economy and trade centres, bringing prosperity to this area. Muratovic said the signing of the documents was of the utmost importance for further relations between Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina as well as between western and central Europe, to which Bosnia will be connected this way. Matesa also expressed gratitude to U.S. President Bill Clinton and the U.S. Administration for their "courage to crucially influence the peace process and peace in this area." (hina) ha jn 112031 MET jul 96