OUR MAIN GOAL IS BOLSTERING COOPERATION
Out of all Nordic countries, Croatia has the most developed cooperation with Sweden
INTERVIEW
MARKO BABIĆ
Assistant Director of the Department for International Affairs and EU Affairs at the Croatian Chamber of Economy
A
lso, the figures relating to Croatia's export of services to this country are quite encouraging. All segments have been recording growth, while engineering, food industry, and IT are singled out as sectors that have the potential for an even bigger cooperation - says Marko Babić, Assistant Director of the Department for International Affairs and EU Affairs at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (CCE).
Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović went on a five-day official visit to Sweden a year ago, which was the first visit of the Croatian president since 2003. What European and bilateral issues were set as priorities in regard to boosting the cooperation between the two countries? — During the official visit of the Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, as a part of the economic delegation, the Croatian Chamber of Economy visited Göteborg's technology parks, Lindholmen and Johanneberg. During the visit, the Swedish-Croatian Economic Forum and B2B meetings between Croatian and Swedish
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Focus
SWEDEN 2018
business people also took place. A total of 11 Croatian and around 30 Swedish companies participated in the forum, as did the representatives of the local and regional authorities. Taking into account a fact that construction companies that are already present in Sweden for a certain period of time were part of the business delegation, it must be said that besides talks held with Swedish business community, their representatives exchanged experiences and tried to explore potential for future cooperation when operating on the Swedish market.
THE WALLENBERG FOUNDATION IS SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN THE CROATIAN MARKET, WHILE SAAB WILL LAUNCH AN INNOVATION PROGRAMME HERE
Croatia has repeatedly confirmed that it wanted to improve the neglected bilateral relations with the Nordic countries, and not just maintain a connection with them in European institutions and at meetings in Brussels. How would you rate the progress made after a year of more frequent high-level visits? — On behalf of the CCE, I would definitely have to disagree with the statement that Croatia's relations with Sweden and other Nordic states are neglected. In the past twenty years, the Croatian Chamber of Economy has organized or participated in the realization of twenty business meetings and conferences in Croatia and Sweden that covered a certain topic or followed the visits of senior officials. These were organized with the aim of intensifying bilateral economic relations. These relations have still not reached their full potential but are definitely ascending. Out of all Nordic countries, Croatia has the most developed cooperation with Sweden, which is evident according to indicators that suggest the rising trade of goods and services and the number of Swedish tourists and investments in Croatia.
