ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - Croatia has great potential and Croatian economy is impressive because it i strong, its currency is stable, the budget balanced, inflation low and the economic growth of six percent has been realized. All
this indicated that Croatia was a great location for American investments, U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, said on Saturday. Kantor with associates and representatives of 18 large American companies visited the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HKG) on Saturday where he held talks with the HKG president Nadan Vidosevic and Croatian business people. The U.S. delegation was informed of Croatian economic potential and the possibilities of economic cooperation between the two countries. Five Croatian companies with international reputation - Croatian Oil Company (INA), pharmaceutical company Pliva, textile company Varteks and an electrical appliances manufacturer Koncar Elektroindustrija - presented their projects.
ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - Croatia has great potential and Croatian
economy is impressive because it i strong, its currency is stable,
the budget balanced, inflation low and the economic growth of six
percent has been realized.
All this indicated that Croatia was a great location for
American investments, U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, said
on Saturday.
Kantor with associates and representatives of 18 large
American companies visited the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HKG)
on Saturday where he held talks with the HKG president Nadan
Vidosevic and Croatian business people.
The U.S. delegation was informed of Croatian economic
potential and the possibilities of economic cooperation between the
two countries.
Five Croatian companies with international reputation -
Croatian Oil Company (INA), pharmaceutical company Pliva, textile
company Varteks and an electrical appliances manufacturer Koncar
Elektroindustrija - presented their projects. #L#
U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith stressed that the
visit of the U.S. high delegation to Croatia indicated that the
United States fully supported Croatia and the implementation of the
peace agreements.
The establishment of permanent peace was the basic task which
could best be fulfilled through economic and trade relations,
Kantor said, stressing that his arrival in Croatia was the
continuation of the mission of former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown
and business people who had died in an airplane accident near
Dubrovnik in April.
Kantor said that the U.S. delegation had come to Croatia as
friends and partners who wanted to do business with Croatia.
Vidosevic informed the delegation with the organization of the
Croatian Chamber of Commerce and incentive measures for promoting
economic cooperation with foreign countries.
Vidosevic recalled that Croatia had a very good geographic and
traffic position in this part of Europe.
He informed of the construction of the infrastructure - the
Zagreb-Rijeka highway, the Zagreb-Dubrovnik highway (via Split),
the modernization of the railways and airports and stressed the
importance of the Rijeka and Split ports.
He described the role of foreign capital as important.
After the talks, Kantor told reporters that Croatian economy
was strong and growing, adding that agreements between several
companies and the trilateral agreement on road construction from
Dubrovnik would contribute to stronger American investments in
Croatia.
Vidosevic said that the talks with the U.S. delegation had
brought encouraging news and the confirmation for the construction
of the Zagreb-Dubrovnik highway, and connection of the north of
Croatia with the south via the Ploce-Sarajevo corridor to Osijek
and central Europe.
Reiterating that companies whose representatives were
accompanying Kantor earned a revenue twice as much as the Croatian
gross revenue, Vidosevic said that U.S. banks would arrive in
Croatia with the first arrival of American investors, because the
banks "have to be a catalyst of all economic processes."
(hina) lm
131347 MET jul 96