CROATIA, BH INTEND TO FORTIFY ECONOMIC RELATIONS

ZAGREB, Mar 27 (Hina) - Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) intended to fortify their economic relations, Croatian Premier Zlatko Matesa told reporters in Zagreb on Thursday after his meeting with a BH economy delegation. The BH delegation, including Foreign Trade Minister Hasan Muratovic, his deputy Nikola Grabovac, Industry Minister Izudin Kapetanovic, and others, arrived in Zagreb for talks on the strengthening of economic relations and the realization of an economy agreement signed in Zagreb in 1995. The Croatian Government fully supported what had been agreed on in Dayton and Washington and the fact that the implementation of the agreements should be stepped up, Matesa told reporters. With the BH delegation Matesa also held talks on the building of motorways in which both countries were interested, including the routes Zagreb-Split and Sarajevo-Ploce-Dubrovnik. "We agreed that (...) expert groups should at once start discussions as to how to enter these projects", Matesa said, pointing out that means for the initial phases of the projects had already been ensured. The BH delegation wanted in particular to discuss the trade imbalance at the damage of BH existing in commodity exchange with Croatia. "That imbalance is considerably caused by the situation BH is in and the stalling in the process of restructuring, in which there are many factors that BH does not control", Matesa said. "It is in our interest that the economic cooperation between Croatia and BH take place on equal bases", he further said, adding that Croatia was fully open to additional possibilities of economic cooperation. After the talks with Matesa, the BH delegation met Croatian Economy Minister Davor Stern. (hina) ha jn 271831 MET mar 97