PM says Croatian-Bulgarian trade insufficient

Nothing stands in the way of Croatian-Bulgarian economic cooperation but trade is insufficient because the two countries are insufficiently developed or rich, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday after meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Plamen Oresharski.
 

"Nothing stands in the way of our economic cooperation. We are EU member states and we are together on a single market which is very strict and precisely regulated for all. Trade isn't big enough because we are not developed or rich enough, and if it stays so for another 20 years, the fault will be only ours," Milanovic said.

Oresharski, who was on an official visit to Croatia, agreed that trade was not on the level at which it could be.

We concluded that we must invest additional effort in strengthening economic cooperation, which is in the economic interest of both Bulgaria and Croatia, he said, adding that a forum of the two countries' business people taking place in Zagreb today could help with that.

Oresharski and Milanovic said they were pleased that direct Sofia-Zagreb flights would be introduced this year, with Oresharski saying it would certainly contribute to the development of economic cooperation.

The two prime ministers also talked about the development of industry and Croatia's shipbuilding, which Milanovic said was now private and restructured, facing new challenges, but with better prospects than before. They also talked about tourism.

Milanovic went on to say that for the first time in history, Croatia and Bulgaria had decades of peace ahead of them, a stable situation in which they could normally develop.

They also discussed the region, expressing support for the European prospects of the countries in Southeast Europe.

"We won't let this region, this area which is important to both of us, fall out of the focus of interest of old EU member states, in which I put special emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) which mustn't, at least we won't allow it, become a subject of interest only of narrow bureaucratic circles in Brussels, as statesmen in Western Europe too must realise that BiH, like Serbia, must go towards the EU and the criteria must be strict, but special, because BiH, unfortunately, is a special state," said Milanovic.

"Anyone who looks at the map will realise that BiH, for me as a whole, is important to Croatia," he added.

Milanovic and Oresharski attended the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Croatian and Bulgarian education and science ministries, and a cooperation agreement between the two culture ministries for the 2014-17 period.

(Hina)
 

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