Publicat pe 03/10/2017

Bucharest, October 3^rd, 2017: The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), in cooperation with the Chamber of Economy of the Republic of Croatia, organized on Tuesday, October 3^rd, 2017, at CCIR Business Center, the Bilateral Business Forum Romania – Croatia. The event was marked by the presence of H.E. President of the Republic of Croatia, Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, and H.E. President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis.

The President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis congratulated the Croatian partners on opening the event for their interest in developing new partnerships and economic opportunities between Romania and Croatia. The President of Romania stated that “Romania has recorded notable economic performances in recent years, by record rates of economic growth in the European space, but also by a volume of about 30% higher foreign investment flows in 2016, which confirms the attractiveness of the Romanian economic environment. (…) In the context of bilateral economic relations, recent years have seen a turning point in the dynamics of trade flows by reaching the highest level in the post-crisis period, which has reached the threshold of 300 million Euros”. President Iohannis recalled on this occasion the areas of cutting-edge technology, innovative areas such as IT, where “Romania has recorded accelerated growth rates in recent years, with a share of GDP in the sector of about 6% growing. At the same time, it is important to strengthen regional energy cooperation, in line with the principles of the Energy Union and the requirements of European energy security”. Regarding energy cooperation, the President of Romania reminded BRUA gas pipeline and the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region.

H.E. President of the Republic of Croatia, Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said at the forum: “the economy is one of the friendly links between Croatia and Romania. Through the economy we can deepen and broaden our collaboration. (…) Our business communities benefit from a mutually beneficial economic partnership that really seeks to improve and strengthen our relations. (…) We share common efforts to implement new economic steps. We have made considerable progress in this respect; the economy is on the rise, which is reflected in a number of indicators, especially in reducing unemployment. Romania is becoming an attractive investment country, which, from a social point of view, shows economic stability. (…) Our goal is to present today everything we can offer to Romania, to exchange ideas, to develop new relationships that will meet our partnership and our economies. This partnership has a considerable potential for growth, especially in key areas such as defense industry, IT, transport, infrastructure and tourism”.

The President of CCIR, Mr. Mihai Daraban recalled the recent cooperation agreement signed in Zagreb with Croatia Chamber of Commerce and Economy and emphasized also on this occasion, the role of the Chambers of Commerce, empowered by an organic law, to bring face to face with the political decision maker and the environment business, as in the case of this business forum. “I want to greet Mrs. President’s initiative for the Alliance of 3 Seas, we hope that if the logistics infrastructure develops on this project, the participating countries will double their GDP. At the same time, we consider very important Corridor no. 7 European – the Danube, which we want to work as well as the one on the Rhine river and comply with the Paris environmental agreements”, Mr. Daraban also declared.

The President of the Economic Chamber of Croatia, Mr. Luka Burilović, said in the forum: “after a slight decrease in trade between Croatia and Romania in 2016, in the first 6 months of 2017 we had a 25% increase. There is a tremendous potential for improving relations, particularly in the following areas: transport and infrastructure, energy, information and communications technology, defense industry, shipbuilding, tourism, strategic partnerships and joint ventures on third markets. Today’s Forum is the first major event following the CCIR Cooperation Protocol with the Economic Chamber of Croatia signed in June, 2017, in Zagreb, during the official visit of the Prime Minister of Romania to the Republic of Croatia. The primary objective of the protocol is to strengthen cooperation between our institutions and also between Croatian and Romanian companies”.
The event was an excellent opportunity for Romanian companies to participate in business to business meetings with relevant exponents of the Croatian business environment in areas such as defense industry, automotive components, civil and industrial construction, energy, textile industry, port operators and shipping and logistics.

 

Background:

 

According to the INS, the total value of the bilateral trade exchanges Romania – Croatia reached in 2017, 207,1 billion Euros, with exports totaling 159.7 million and importing 110.4 million Euros. According to the information provided by ONRC, on October 2^nd, 2017, the total of the capital of Croatian companies reached 144, with a total subscribed capital of 4.27 million Euros. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has always been on the list of political priorities of both countries, underlining the need for economic relations to be developed in order to align them to the very good level of political relations.