ZAGREB, Feb 22 (Hina) - If the Hungarian proverb that a good job need a lot of time, then this is a very good agreement, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday after signing a free trade agreement with his Croatian
counterpart Ivica Racan. "The free trade agreement was signed after intense and good negotiations between the two sides and is very comprehensive as it regulates a multitude of issues in the economic cooperation between the two countries," Croatia's Racan said at a joint news conference after the signing. He expressed satisfaction with the signed agreement and the overall development of relations between Croatia and Hungary. Racan announced that after the free trade agreement signed with Hungary, Croatia will soon sign similar agreements with some other Central European countries. Negotiations regarding the agreement were long and extensive, sometimes held at the level of premiers, Orban confir
ZAGREB, Feb 22 (Hina) - If the Hungarian proverb that a good job need
a lot of time, then this is a very good agreement, Hungarian Prime
Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday after signing a free trade
agreement with his Croatian counterpart Ivica Racan.
"The free trade agreement was signed after intense and good
negotiations between the two sides and is very comprehensive as it
regulates a multitude of issues in the economic cooperation between
the two countries," Croatia's Racan said at a joint news conference
after the signing. He expressed satisfaction with the signed
agreement and the overall development of relations between Croatia
and Hungary.
Racan announced that after the free trade agreement signed with
Hungary, Croatia will soon sign similar agreements with some other
Central European countries.
Negotiations regarding the agreement were long and extensive,
sometimes held at the level of premiers, Orban confirmed.
"I believe we signed a good agreement and we are certainly satisfied
with its content, which I believe the other side can also say,"
Orban said.
He expressed conviction the agreement will be significant in the
everyday life of people as it will provide better economic
conditions for thousands of Croatians and Hungarians, and if it is
implemented well, it will create many new jobs.
The obstacle to the much earlier signing of the free trade agreement
were export and import quotas for agricultural products. Asked who
made the concession in the matter, Racan said both countries had
concrete interests which they defended during negotiations.
"I believe that we made a good choice in the end, reaching a
compromise, so both countries, signatories to the agreement, came
out as victors," Ivica Racan asserted.
Hungary's Prime Minister recalled issues of agricultural products
were the most difficult in negotiations with all other countries
with which Hungary has signed the Central European Free Trade
Agreement (CEFTA).
"However, trade has doubled in all these countries within a few
years," so today CEFTA is a free trade zone which is developing the
most rapidly, Orban said, stressing that by signing this agreement,
"Croatia has in a way already entered CEFTA".
"I hope and sincerely wish for Croatia to sign such agreements with
other Central European countries, in which case every little
concession it has made will be multiply recouped," Orban asserted.
The Croatian and Hungarian prime ministers announced they would
discuss remaining issues of mutual interest at a dinner being
prepared by Racan in honour of his Hungarian guest.
(hina) lml