- Published: 02.11.2018.
PM Plenkovic says China interested in investing in Croatia
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing on Friday, saying afterwards that China was interested in investing in the renewal of Croatia's rail infrastructure and shipbuilding industry, which could be realised as part of the China + 16 initiative.
Plenkovic today began a five-day working visit to China.
"We talked about possible Chinese investment in the rail infrastructure, in ports, which is especially important to Croatia. We have developed a great road infrastructure, invested a lot in airports. However, we now have to further upgrade railways," he said, adding that the plan was to invest EUR 3 billion in the rail infrastructure by 2030.
"The interest and expertise of Chinese companies could open new pages of cooperation, very concrete ones, as everyone is highly interested in the China + 16 framework," Plenkovic said, adding that Croatia would host the 2019 meeting of the initiative which promotes stronger cooperation between the world's second largest economy and the countries of east and central Europe.
He held working meetings with the executives of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the China Railway Group Limited, Norinco, and the CSIC Shipbuilding Corporation.
"We requested a meeting with the Chinese shipbuilding corporation. They are interested in partnership, in cooperation," Plenkovic said. He outlined the current state of Croatia's shipbuilding to CSIC, one of the world's largest shipbuilders.
He recalled that CSIS had been cooperating with Croatia's Institute for Ship Hydrodynamics for some time now, saying "they are very satisfied with the expertise of Croatian experts."
Asked by reporters if it was possible to find a strategic partner for Croatia's ailing Uljanik dock, Plenkovic said it was and that there was interest, including from Fincantieri, DIV and Ukrainian companies. "The information we have presented here in China has fallen on fertile ground."
Plenkovic's meeting with Li was their fifth over the past two years. He said today they talked about increasing bilateral trade and that both were satisfied with the ongoing construction of the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia.
The bridge is being built by CRBC, whose CEO Lu Shan said after the talks with Plenkovic that this was "a very important moment" for the company. "This is an opportunity to present to the Croatian prime minister the project we have launched, the job we have done so far and the job we have lined up for the next few months."
Lu said it was important to CRBC to hire local labour and honour all environmental regulations. "It's quite a sophisticated bridge because of the quite big span of the central arch and the strict European laws on environmental protection. We must be very careful about all the technical issues, and the environment especially, so that we don't breach European standards or disappoint people.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration regulated only legal migration and that he had been informed that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic would go to Morocco in December for the ratification of the document.
"That document isn't legally binding and every country retains the national right to handle migration in the manner it wants," he told Croatian reporters following his visit to Bejing. "What's very important is that this is about legal migration, not illegal migration."
Earlier today, Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric called a press conference in the wake of media reports that Croatia's far right sees the document as contentious as the Istanbul Convention which Croatia ratified this year.
"It's important that Croatia pursues a responsible policy to prevent illegal migration. What someone on the domestic political scene thinks of that agreement is less important," said Plenkovic.
He said the current migration phenomenon had existed for many years. "Therefore, this is a global response by the world organisation to a topic which no one can escape alone."
He would not comment on media reports that the president would not go to Morocco, saying that, as far as he knew, she planned to attend the Global Compact ratification conference in Marrakesh because she was invited by the UN secretary-general.
Text: Hina