ZAGREB, May 15, 2019 - During her state visit to Canada, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović met with business women and women chief executive officers and investors in Toronto on Tuesday, her office said in a press release. The meeting was organised by the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
Addressing those present, Grabar-Kitarović emphasised the strong dynamic of mutual visits at political and other levels which were helping promote friendly relations between the two countries. She in particular highlighted the importance of advancing economic cooperation, which she said had not yet reached its full potential.
The president said that Croatia and Canada had growing potential to boost their economic cooperation, especially in trade, industry, energy, information technology and tourism.
Croatia welcomes Canadian investors and supports Canadian investments, particularly in the manufacturing sector, including oil production, the wood-processing, food and electronic industries, and in services such as tourism, she said.
Canada has a strong, industrially developed and modern market economy and is a G8 member, considerably contributing to the stability and development of the global economy, and it is also one of the oldest and closest partners of the European Union, she added.
By joining the European Union in mid-2013, Croatia has become part of this strategic partnership which has recently been crowned with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada, and the benefits of the provisional implementation of the CETA are already visible in our economic cooperation, the Croatian president said.
Grabar-Kitarović expressed her confidence that stronger trade with Canada would create new opportunities for growth and job creation in the EU and Canada, and thanked the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce for helping to establish business and broader economic cooperation between Croatia and Canada.
Also on Tuesday, Grabar-Kitarović had a working meeting with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell. She expressed her satisfaction with the cooperation between Canadian and Croatian universities, saying that cooperation in science and education was very important for the overall development of relations between the two countries.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is an area of constant and accelerated change, which requires a dynamic education system, the Croatian president said, adding that cooperation between Croatia and Canada should be encouraged in STEM areas.
Grabar-Kitarović said that Croatia strongly supported and promoted the activity of the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce in Toronto and the Croatian-Canadian Business Network in Zagreb, which are making efforts to attract investment and strengthen relations between the two countries.
On Wednesday, the Croatian president is scheduled to visit the western province of Alberta and meet with Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell and the local Croatian community.
More news about relations between Croatia and Canada can be found in the Politics section.
