Members of the Australia-Croatia Business Council for Economic Cooperation at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) believe that industry, food and tourism are areas with the most potential to strengthen economic cooperation with Australia. At a meeting held in Zagreb on Friday, the council's president and CEO for western Europe at Croatia's Podravka food manufacturer, Marko Maric, identified industry as an area with big potential for better cooperation and the Koncar electrical company as doing a lot of business on the Australian market. He said that the Australian market is increasingly demanding Croatian food products, and also mentioned the potential in tourism.
"About 200,000 Australian tourists visited Croatia last year and we expect a similar number this year. Also, we have very good cooperation with institutions on the Australian market, from mixed chambers of commerce to ministries," Maric said.
Australia's Ambassador to Croatia Elizabeth Petrovic spoke about EU-Australia negotiations and a free trade agreement which were launched last year. She underscored that the agreement will create jobs and further economic progress in Australia and EU member states, including Croatia. She said that her country shared many values with Europe and has a large number of highly-qualified and well-educated experts.
The aim of the Business Council, which was established last October, is to motivate and strengthen economic relations between Croatia and Australia in trade, industry, technological development, investments in tourism, services and other areas of cooperation. Special emphasis is put on increasing the export of Croatian commodities to Australia as well as the need to conclude an agreement on avoiding dual-taxation.
The council is working on creating an image on the Australian market showing Croatia as a desirable country for investments.
Last year Croatia imported commodities to the value of a little more than 21 million euro from Australia, while it exported commodities valued at a little over 23 million euro.
The EU is Australia's third trade partner with an annual trade of more than 47 million euro. (Hina)
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