Croatia should "pay great attention" to the Gulf countries which are big investors, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Dubai on Saturday on a visit on the occasion of Expo 2020.
"This part of the world, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, they are all countries we should pay great attention to," he said, adding that they invest a lot "thanks to their oil fields."
Plenković is visiting the UAE together with Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman and Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac. They will try to attract Arab investment at the Dubai-Croatia Business Forum scheduled for Sunday.
Plenković said it was a good opportunity to establish contacts with potential partners to increase trade. "I'm confident that it will return to the numbers we had before the COVID-19 pandemic, to about $95 million, as well as that the cooperation can be enhanced."
He said fast-growing economies such as the UAE, notably Dubai as "the centre of sustainable development, tourism and innovation" and Abu Dhabi, where 90% of the country's oil fields are, "have their role in the development of economic cooperation with Croatia."
Plenković met with Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE prime minister with whom he visited the Croatian pavilion at Expo 2020, while on Sunday he is due to meet with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
(Hina/FaH)
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