Chinese in the EU and CEFTA Market via Croatia?

The Director of the Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments, Slobodan Mikac, and the Chinese Ambassador, Wu Zhenglong, signed a cooperation agreement between the Agency and the Office for Trade of the People’s Republic of China in Zagreb, during which Mikac also called for investments from Chinese entrepreneurs in ‘one of the largest logistics projects in Southeast Europe.’

 This involves the construction of an international transport logistics center in the vicinity of Zagreb, specifically Velika Gorica, valued at 150 to 200 million euros, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, Mikac stated, not wishing to disclose details of the project at this time. He announced that one-third of the ownership of this center would be held by state and local government and public enterprises, while the remaining owners would be sought among private investors, large global companies, including Chinese companies that wish to relocate part of their logistics capacities to Croatia.

As part of this project, he added, efforts will be made to offer these companies the most favorable business conditions to increase the competitiveness of Croatian ports compared to Northern European ports. Mikac presented Croatia as a potential entry point for Chinese entrepreneurs to the markets of the European Union and CEFTA, with over 500 million consumers.  At the same time, he invited Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in Croatian tourism capacities, and opportunities for business cooperation with Croatian engineering, shipbuilding, and construction companies were also presented. One example mentioned was the low-floor tram that could be used for modernizing public transport in
Chinese cities.

Speaking about the economic situation in China, Ambassador Wu Zhenglong emphasized that the country, with 1.3 billion inhabitants and an annual GDP growth of an average of 9.5 percent, has very good bilateral relations with Croatia and that it is in the interest of the Chinese side, despite recording a significant surplus in foreign trade exchange, to balance the exchange and improve its structure. Namely, Chinese exports to Croatia exceeded one billion dollars last year, while Croatia exported goods to that country worth just over 17 million dollars. Ambassador Wu Zhenglong also pointed out that the Chinese market is large and has no barriers to imports from Croatia, while Croatia has a very good geographical position for access to the European market, which is why more and more Chinese entrepreneurs are using the ports of Rijeka and Ploče.

The cooperation agreement between the Agency and the Office for Trade of China was assessed as one of the steps to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries. The Office for Trade was established within the Chinese Ministry of Economy with the aim of promoting trade, developing international competitiveness, promoting Chinese companies globally, and fostering cooperation between Chinese and foreign companies. The Office provides services and information on exports and imports as well as business services available in China.  (H)