PM Plenkovic, Japanese minister discuss economic cooperation

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday received for talks Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobuo Kishi, and the two officials discussed their countries' wish for further developing economic relations and increasing trade, an official statement said.

As regards the encouragement of Japanese investments in Croatia, Prime Minister Plenkovic underlined that Croatia was constantly making efforts to improve business conditions and enhance investment breaks for foreign investors, which could attract a larger number of Japanese companies wishing to expand their business onto Croatia, the statement said.

Regarding the structure of Croatia-Japan trade, Croatia's exports to Japan are still dominated by tuna exports (80% of all exports to that country) and by wood exports (4.3%), while Japan exports various machines, devices and instruments as well as cars and car parts to Croatia.

Plenkovic expressed satisfaction with the fact that more than 120,000 Japanese tourists visit Croatia annually.

He also welcomed the EU-Japan agreement on the main elements of the Economic Partnership Agreement of 6 July 2017 and sought Japan's support for Croatia's bid to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

During the talks, the Croatian PM also extended an invitation for Japan's PM Shinzo Abe to visit Croatia.

Text: Hina

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