Plenković: As much as 35% of Croatia's total trade last year was with Three Seas Initiative countries

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is in Warsaw, where he is participating in a business forum and summit of the Three Seas Initiative, an informal platform launched by Zagreb and Warsaw in 2015. The Three Seas Initiative has significant geostrategic importance for Croatia and represents a major economic opportunity, said Prime Minister Plenković, adding that the Warsaw Business Forum is discussing the continued development of economic and trade cooperation within the framework of the Initiative. He noted that in 2024 alone, 35% of Croatia's total trade was conducted with other countries participating in the Three Seas Initiative.

Driven by strong economic growth, Croatia has reached 77% of the EU average GDP per capita, gradually closing the gap with more developed EU members that have long enjoyed the benefits of membership. With an 'A' credit rating and a high-quality business environment, Croatia remains committed to increasing its attractiveness for foreign investment and entrepreneurship, he said.
 
Participating in the presidential business panel on the topic of Connecting for Growth, he announced Croatia's chairmanship of the Initiative, while the presidents of the Initiative countries emphasized that it has brought energy security and resilience to the participating countries, calling it a strategic platform.
 
Strengthening cooperation and connectivity of the Initiative countries with Croatia as an energy hub
 
"As Croatia takes over the presidency of the Initiative, we look forward to hosting the summit and business forum next year. Our main priorities will be to strengthen economic and energy cooperation and strengthen infrastructure connectivity across the Baltic-Adriatic-Black Sea region," said Prime Minister Plenković.
 
He stressed the importance of improving financing of Initiative projects and strengthening parliamentary cooperation. In the context of transatlantic ties, he highlighted the importance of the arrival of US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the summit.
 
He called former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Polish President Andrzej Duda visionaries for the fact that they are behind this initiative. Launched ten years ago with the aim of connecting countries on the 'vertical' between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea, in order to bridge the development gap between that part of the EU and the western part, it has since proven to be extremely important and has outgrown its initial goals.
 
He pointed out that Croatia is becoming a new energy hub and, in this context, emphasized the importance of Rijeka and Krk, and reminded that the capacity of the LNG terminal on that Croatian island has been expanded to 6.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will enable the supply of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
 
Prime Minister Plenković met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Estonian President Alar Karis, with whom he discussed common priorities within the framework of the Three Seas Initiative and bilateral and European issues.

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