GENEVA, Dec 5 (Hina) - A two-day meeting aimed at finding new ways of economic cooperation in south-eastern Europe opened in Geneva on Thursday.
GENEVA, Dec 5 (Hina) - A two-day meeting aimed at finding new ways
of economic cooperation in south-eastern Europe opened in Geneva on
Thursday. #L#
The US Government considered the initiative for cooperation in
South-Eastern Europe part of the process to integrate these
countries into trans-Atlantic relations, US Ambassador Richard
Schiffer said opening the meeting.
The project has been designed to find new ways of economic
coperation, particularly in the fields of trade, tranpsport and
power industry, which will stimulate foreign investments in the
region.
The morning session was devoted to speeches by representatives
of several countries and discussion with experts with the UN Trade
Committee for Europe, which is to provide technical support to the
US initiative.
"The proposed form of regional cooperation should not become a
goal per se but rather an instrument to speed up the integration of
these countries into European associations," a member of the
Croatian delegation, Darko Bekic, said.
He voiced reserve over the proposed "package-oriented"
approach, stressing that the integration time scale should be
determined individually for each country, depending on its level of
development.
He also stressed that most South-Eastern Europe economies had
developed the same or similar industry branches and were therefore
competitive rather than complementary. This constituted another
limiting factor for mutual trade and a rationale for these
countries' orientation toward trade with Western Europe, Bekic
said.
Bekic's point of view was seconded by Greek and Bulgarian
representatives.
The meeting is expected to draw up a final statement on Friday
morning and put it to the vote in the afternoon.
(hina) as
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