ZAGREB, Dec 16 (Hina) - Croatian Government representatives and businesspeople on Thursday met an Italian business delegation to discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.
ZAGREB, Dec 16 (Hina) - Croatian Government representatives and
businesspeople on Thursday met an Italian business delegation to
discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation between the two
countries. #L#
Stressing that Italy was Croatia's first foreign trade partner
and should remain so, Croatian Deputy Prime Ministers Borislav
Skegro and Jure Radic, and Privatisation Minister Milan Kovac,
presnted the current economic situation in Croatia.
Croatia was peaceful and safe; it was in a stage of rapid
economic growth and forging closer ties with the European Union,
Skegro said. Croatia was a reliable partner and foreign investors
would find a convertible domestic currency, a reliable legal
framework, full freedom of repatriation of capital and low profit
tax, Skegro said.
Radic presented figures on the damage Croatia had sustained
during Serbian aggression. He outlined reconstruction plans,
emphasising favourable opportunities for Italian investors,
particularly in the field of infrastructure.
Thanking the Croatian Government officials and businesspeople
for their hospitality, the deputy director of the economic affair
department at the Italian Foreign Ministry, Gian Paolo Cavarai,
said that relations between Croatia and Italy were excellent and
that he wished them to remain so.
However, this relationship should be integrated into the
framework of relations between the EU and Croatia, Cavarai said.
The European Union's goal was to encourage regional cooperation and
priority would be given to projects involving several countries,
Cavarai said.
(hina) jn as
161508 MET jan 97