Croatian Economy Minister Branko Vukelic said after the meeting that the participants agreed that it was necessary to step up activities aimed at the admission of Macedonia to CEFTA, which should be organised at the next summit of heads of state or government of member-states later this year in Zagreb.
Today's meeting also focused on CEFTA's expansion to other south-eastern European countries and possibilities of establishing a new free trade zone being based on some other agreement.
Minister Vukelic said that economic cooperation between the CEFTA member-countries was steadily growing with a 50-percent rise in last year's trade.
With a zone of free trade with other countries in the region, notably with Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, economic cooperation in the region would be strengthened also after the entry of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Union, i.e after their departure from CEFTA, the Croatian minister said.
A report on the work of the subcommittee on agricultural trade was also discussed today in Zagreb.