To strengthen the economic relations between Croatia and Iran, key factors are financial flows, the visa regime, and the air line, it was emphasized on Thursday at the Croatian-Iranian Economic Forum at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK).
“The bilateral relations between Croatia and Iran are friendly, and our common goal is to strengthen mutual economic relations, utilizing potential through concrete economic agreements and projects,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship, and Crafts Martina Dalić, as reported by HGK in a statement.
She also stated that Iran’s plans for the renewal of energy, transport, and maritime infrastructure represent a significant opportunity for Croatian companies, and there are potentials in the food industry, especially for Croatian companies with halal certification, the renewal of railway infrastructure, locomotives and wagons, shipbuilding, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and other areas.
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“The Croatian government is working on improving the business climate in Croatia through tax reforms and reducing administrative and other barriers to business,” Dalić said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, emphasized that the third business meeting of entrepreneurs from Iran and Croatia demonstrates the importance of the political initiative from 2016 and the visit of the Croatian president to Iran, and that this initiative is now bearing fruit.
He recalled the long tradition of business cooperation between Croatian and Iranian companies, which in the past reached up to one billion dollars.
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“The private sector has recognized the potential for cooperation in shipbuilding, the oil industry and energy, electricity production, and joint investments and cooperation for entering third markets are also possible,” Zarif said.
The potential for cooperation, as he noted, is also in tourism and the construction of tourist infrastructure in Iran, in the field of transport and cooperation in business in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The president of HGK, Luka Burilović, emphasized that this year is a turning point in the relations between Croatia and Iran and that today’s forum will lay the foundations for new business initiatives.
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He also expects a significantly different balance in mutual trade exchange, which in recent years, as he said, has not been at a satisfactory level.
“INA is currently in negotiations to purchase oil tankers from Iran. We believe that we will soon see a similar picture in Croatian exports to Iran. Also, Croatian companies in Iran currently have significant projects and are competing for million-dollar contracts in the sectors of electricity and the metal industry. With a series of business meetings recently, results must not be lacking,” Burilović said, emphasizing the importance of establishing payment transactions for mutual economic cooperation.
The relations between Croatia and Iran have always been good, and now is the time for new steps and an even greater momentum in economic relations, said the Vice President of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Masoud Khansari.
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To strengthen economic cooperation, as he said, it is necessary to establish direct flights between Iran and Croatia, ease the visa regime, and establish payment transactions, as development cannot continue properly without solid banking connections.
The total trade exchange between Croatia and Iran for the first ten months of 2017 amounted to 5.4 million US dollars.
As part of the Forum, discussions were held with more than 70 representatives of Croatian and Iranian companies and institutions from the sectors of agriculture, food industry, construction, petrochemical industry, medicine, health tourism, medical equipment, trade, IT industry, metal processing industry, and mining.
