Southeast European countries should cooperate in developing infrastructure projects to make them more interesting to investors, it was said at a regional conference on infrastructure, logistics and transport which brought together about a hundred participants from the region and EU countries in Zagreb on Tuesday.
In a video message to the participants, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said that logistics was one of the most promising branches of industry in terms of creation of new jobs.
A member of the management board of the rail company HZ Infrastruktura, Ivan Matasic, called for cooperation between political elites in defining regional infrastructure projects that would be in line with the EU's transport policy.
Major investments in infrastructure require involvement by the state because of their value and the fact that they yield a return only after ten or more years, which makes it difficult to expect the private sector to be involved in them from the very beginning.
Croatia and the countries in its neighbourhood should make better use of their geographical position than they have done so far considering the fact that several important transport corridors run through them. Railway infrastructure is especially interesting in that context because investments in that kind of infrastructure have been insufficient in the recent years, it was said at the conference.
Also, the potential of Adriatic ports exceeds their current position on the global map of transport routes, it was said at the event, which will also discuss the launching and funding of infrastructure projects, possibilities of using EU funds, etc.
The Zagreb conference, organised by the Infoarena company, was being held under the auspices of the Croatian government and the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure.
(Hina)