Prime Minister Ivo Sanader opened the Coastal Shipping Agency in the southern port city of Split on Saturday.
The Agency will, among other things, ensure better links between the mainland and the Croatian Adriatic islands.
The Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development, Božidar Kalmeta, recalled that HRK 330 million (approximately EUR 45 million) was allocated in the 2007 budget for improving ferry services with the islands.
He also added that the founding of the Agency would help Croatian seafarers to equally participate in the market competition; the Agency's task would be to help them prepare for various contests organized also in foreign countries.
In the last three years the government has upgraded and constructed 43 ports and there are plans to modernize all other ports connecting the mainland with the islands by the end of next year.