The Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development Božidar Kalmeta met today with the vice-president of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu. They discussed an intensifying of future co-operation as well as recent projects regarding the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure.
The Rijeka Gateway project is the result of a successful co-operation between Croatia and the World Bank. The project’s goal is to modernize the Rijeka Port and to restructure and modernize the Croatian Railways. On September 3rd, 2005 the Republic of Croatia and the World Bank are signing a contract regarding an advance payment for the Project of integration and transport for the Ploče Port.
That project is of great regional importance since it foresees the financing of the project documentation for the construction of a container terminal and a bulk freight terminal in the Ploče Port. Minister Kalmeta also stated that, at the same time, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia are starting the building of the motorway on Corridor V.c (Ploče – Sarajevo – Osijek – Budimpešta). He added that a resumed production of the ironworks and the coke plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina would give opportunity to the growth of transport, helping in that way the development of the Ploče Port.
Vice – president Katsu expressed his hope that there would be a continued co-operation regarding projects for transport infrastructure, especially road maintenance.