CROATIA, MALAYSIA TO STRENGTHEN MUTUAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 4 (Hina) - Croatia and Malysia would continue to expand their excellent bilateral relations and to strengthen mutual economic cooperation, the two sides said in a statement on Tuesday, after the end of Croatian Premier Zlatko Matesa's visit to Malaysia. Matesa headed a Croatian delegation on a three-day visit to Kuala Lumpur, on an invitation of Malaysian Premier Mahathir bin Mohamad. The two countries would especially work on the incitement of mutual trade and joint investments in third countries, today's statement said, adding that possible fields of economic cooperation included construction, the power industry, communications, banking, shipbuilding, free trade areas and tourism. The two premiers agreed that they would ensure the progress of the reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH), in order to provide conditions for a long-term economic progress and the stability of BH, as well as the region as a whole. Mates and his Malaysian counterpart expressed satisfaction with the signing of the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation, the Agreement on the Protection of Investments and the Agreement on Air Traffic. Croatia and Malaysia were completing agreements on double taxation evasion, on scientific and technical cooperation and an agreement on cultural and educational cooperation, the statement said. The fields of economic cooperation in which both countries are interested, were specifically indicated in the statement. Croatia offered its free trade areas to act as distribution centres for Malaysia's palm oil, wood, chemical and textile, as well as electronic, products, in Central and Eastern Europe. Both countries expressed readiness for cooperation in the power industry, shipbuilding, the production of telecommunications equipment, the textile industry and banking, the joint statement concluded. (hina) ha jn 041700 MET mar 97