ALL CONDITIONS CREATED FOR ITALIAN INVESTMENT IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - During a meeting in Zagreb on Thursday with leading Italian business people, Croatian deputy prime ministers Borislav Skegro and Jure Radic expressed a desire to advance the traditionally good economic cooperation between the two countries, emphasizing that all conditions had been created for Italian investments in Croatia. Skegro said that Italy had been Croatia's chief foreign trade partner when it had been part of Yugoslavia and that it did not want to break that tradition. He added that Croatia was now peaceful and stable, experiencing an upswing in the economy and getting closer to the European Union. "Croatia is a reliable partner in which a foreign investor will find a convertible currency, a safe legal framework, full freedom of capital repatriation and a very low profit tax rate," Skegro said. Radic said that Italian-Croatian partnership could develop in a wide range of areas such as energy, road construction, modernization of railways, building of waterways and water supply systems, and particularly the implementation of environmental plans, because Croatia wanted to be one of Europe's ecological oases. The direct war damage in Croatia was estimated at 21.7 billion US dollars and indirect damage might be three times as much, Radic said, recalling that through its own investments Croatia had enabled the majority of displaced people to return to their homes. "Croatia is not seeking assistance but is offering partnership so that everyone would make a profit by investing in capital projects in Croatia," Radic said. The Italian delegation included representatives of Italy's leading industrial and public companies, banks and business associations. The Deputy Director for Economic Affairs of the Italian Foreign Ministry, Gian Paolo Cavarai, expressed a desire for the continuation of excellent relations between the two countries. He said that their economic relations should be fitted into the framework of relations between Croatia and the European Union. "In this regard it should be known that the aim of the EU strategy is to promote regional cooperation, and therefore preference should be given to projects involving several countries," Cavarai said. (hina) vm mm 161932 MET jan 97