Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butkovic said on Thursday that a Chinese delegation had expressed interest in the Port of Rijeka and that everyone who guaranteed turnover was interesting to Croatia.
Speaking to the press before a government session, he said the delegation visited the northern Adriatic port yesterday. "Our problem is that we have... the port infrastructure but don't have cargo and turnover. In that sense, everyone who guarantees turnover and wants to bring it is interesting to us.".
Butkovic met with a delegation of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission and Chinese Ambassador to Croatia Deng Ying.
The delegation is mainly interested in railway infrastructure projects, particularly the construction of a railway from Rijeka via Zagreb to the border with Hungary, as well as an upgrade the Port of Rijeka, the ministry said.
Railway infrastructure projects, particularly the construction of a railway from Rijeka via Zagreb towards the border with Hungary, as well as the ongoing project to upgrade the Port of Rijeka were some of the projects discussed at a meeting between a Chinese delegation and Croatian Maritime Affairs, Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic.
The Chinese guests were presented with a brochure providing information about the said projects.
Ambassador Deng Ying underscored that her country welcomed the "Adriatic - Baltic - Black Sea" initiative which it considered to be complementary to a Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road" which upholds the interests of Chinese investors.
The diplomat recalled that China had already established a defined cooperation framework with the European Union and that Beijing expected cooperation between Croatia and China, based on the framework of cooperation with central and eastern European countries (China + 16), to be fruitful.
During a meeting between the Chinese delegation on Tuesday with senior Croatian officials, there was mention of possible investments in energy, transport, infrastructure and tourism.
(Hina)
