CROATIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC SIGN THREE BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa on Tuesday met his Czech counterpart, Vaclav Klaus, who is heading a Czech government delegation on a one-day official visit to Zagreb. After the talks, the Croatian and Czech delegations signed three bilateral agreements which laid a legal foundation for development of economic relations between the two countries. The agreement on investment stimulation and protection and the trade agreement were signed by the prime ministers while the agreement on cancelling visa requirements was signed by First Assistant Foreign Ministers Alexander Vondra of the Czech Republic and Ivan Simonovic of Croatia. Klaus announced a possibility that an agreement on free trade zones would be signed soon. He said that the talks also focused on privatization, export and import, and tourism. Matesa said that the visit of the Czech Premier marked the beginning of a new era of stable political and good economic relations between the two countries. Matesa thanked his guest for participation of Czech troops in the UNPROFOR mission and NATO's peace Implementation Force (IFOR). (hina) vm mm 051544 MET mar 96