- Published: 12.09.2018.
PM Plenkovic with Austrian President Van der Bellen
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his reciprocal visit to Croatia on Thursday, and the two underscored their desire to boost trade and investments, a government press release said.
Plenkovic and Aliyev reaffirmed very good and friendly relations between Croatia and Azerbaijan within their strategic partnership agreed in 2013.
In the context of the recent decision to open the Croatian Embassy in Baku, after the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Zagreb in 2011, both officials expressed a desire to increase trade and investment, especially in energy and tourism. The Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, which held its first meeting in November 2017, will play a special role in that.
Aliyev said that cooperation with Croatia was very important, while Plenkovic, speaking of Croatia's energy policy, underlined the country's great potential as an energy hub.
Also discussed was possible intensive bilateral cooperation in light of strategic projects such as the construction of an LNG terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk and an Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline.
Other topics discussed included the situation in the regions of Croatia and Azerbaijan, topics relating to the current Croatian chairmanship of the Council of Europe and Croatia's plans regarding its presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric and Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy Tomislav Coric.
Text: Hina