The Minister President of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, visited the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar on Wednesday, noting that one of the objectives of his visit was to deepen economic cooperation and increase investments in the Croatian Danube River region. The German official and his delegation will also visit the Rimac Automobili company in Samobor, outside Zagreb and Croatian officials.
We would like to see this visit result in the arrival of one of our medium-sized companies in Croatia. One of the goals of this visit is to deepen the economic cooperation and another one is to increase investments in this region and work together on its development, Kretschmann said, recalling that around 100,000 people of Croat background lived in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
He said that the delegation he was heading had about 100 members – business people, researchers, and representatives of the cultural and civil society sectors – which, he said, were areas where the existing cooperation with Croatia should be advanced and new forms of cooperation established.
Croatia is the youngest member of the European Union and here in Vukovar we would like to point to the advantages of this region in which some states are members of the EU and some are still not. We would like to promote relations within the EU’s Danube Strategy, which is a very important segment of Germany’s foreign policy, and make the Danube become a European river along which economy and friendship between neighbouring countries is fostered, said Kretschmann.
Vukovar-Srijem County head Bozo Galic said that the county had very good cooperation with the German federal state.
“We want Baden-Wuerttemberg to help us in our development. There are many projects which can make this possible, with the Danube River being the main link,” Galic said, adding that Vukovar-Srijem County wanted to integrate its river and railway transport routes with European transport corridors.
On Thursday, Kretschmann met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Economy Minister Martina Dalic and Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic-Buric.
A task force for digitisation is to be set up and a school partnership agreement will be signed between Croatia and Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The German official and his delegation will also visit the Rimac Automobili company in Samobor, outside Zagreb.
