ZAGREB, 6 March 2022 - The cooperation between Croatia and the United Arab Emirates will soon become more intensive and more serious, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a business forum between the two countries in Dubai on Sunday.

Plenković, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman and Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac arrived at Expo 2020 on the occasion of Croatian National Day at the exhibition.

They came to Dubai with numerous Croatian business people who attended the business forum.

"I would say that this stay at Expo, such a big turnout of Croatian business people and this business forum will contribute to increasing trade, which will soon pass US$ 100 million again," the prime minister said.

After meeting with UAE leaders, he said he had a "strong confidence that the cooperation between Croatia and the UAE will take a more intensive and more serious direction."

At the forum, Plenković presented the Croatian economy to the Arab participants, saying that Croatia has a stable economic growth and the highest investment rating in its history.

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 6 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Sunday attended the marking of Croatian National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai, saying Croatia is a "country of investors" and that it has centuries-long ties with the Arab world.

Croatia is attending Expo for the first time since 2010 in China.

Today the Croatian Pavilion at Expo 2020 was visited by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, a member of the United Arab Emirates government and commissioner of the exhibition.

"UAE-Croatia relations have been growing considerably in the last decade and we wish to expand the cooperation in the commercial, political and cultural spheres," he said, adding that the Croatian pavilion symbolises the "growing relations" between the two states.

Plenković said he was proud of the "history, talent and creativity" of the Croatian people and the "beautiful and preserved nature and the diversity of the cultural heritage."

He mentioned the necktie, Faust Vrančić as the first man to jump with a parachute in 1617, criminalist and fingerprinting creator Ivan Vučetić, modern seismology founder Andrija Mohorovičić, and Nikola Tesla.

"Thanks to him (Tesla), in 1895 Šibenik became the first city whose street lighting received energy from a hydroelectric power plant," Plenković said and also mentioned the Rimac Automobili company, which made the fastest electric car in the world, which is displayed in the Croatian Pavilion.

"Besides an innovative and creative spirit," Croatia is also full of talent in sports, culture, music and art, he said, calling on those present to visit Croatia.

Plenković said the relations between Croatia and the Arab world dated back to the Middle Ages.

"For centuries, the Croats were the only Slavic people which maintained relations with the Arabs in the Mediterranean, and the Croatian republic of Dubrovnik traded intensively with the Arab states as a mediator between East and West," he said.

"Therefore it's no coincidence that the first mention of Croatia on the world map was on the one designed by the great Arab Islamic geographer and cartographer al-Idrisi in the 12st century," Plenković added.

He also mentioned Croatian philosopher Hermann the Dalmatian, one of the most important translators from Arabic to Latin, the author of the first Latin translation of the Qur'an, and the fact that Croatia was the third European country to officially recognise Islam as a religion in 1916.

Plenković was accompanied to Dubai by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman and Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac.

For more, check out our business section.

March 6, 2022 - The world's tallest skyscraper displayed the Croatian flag on Saturday night during Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's visit to Dubai. A look at the Croatian-colored Burj Khalifa!

Croatia should "pay great attention" to Gulf countries that are significant investors, said Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday, who is in Dubai at the world exhibition EXPO 2020, reports Vecernji List.

"This part of the world, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, are all countries we need to pay great attention to," the Prime Minister added about the countries that invest significantly "thanks to their oil fields."

During his trip, the Prime Minister met with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the Emirates, with whom he visited the Croatian pavilion at the EXPO. He will also meet with the Minister of Trade of the United States Gina Raimondo.

Better yet, Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, was decked out in Croatian colors on Saturday. 

"After the meeting with the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed and the Crown Prince of the UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan - a nice gesture of the host. Burj Khalifa is in the colors of Croatia," Prime Minister Plenković said on Twitter.

Croatia will try to attract Arab investments at the Dubai-Croatia Business Forum, held in the city on Sunday, organized by two chambers of commerce.

"Tomorrow, together with about eighty Croatian business people, I will participate in the opening of the Dubai-Croatia Business Forum, organized by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce," the Prime Minister added on Twitter.

Apart from the Prime Minister, Croatia is also represented in the Emirates by the Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić, the Head of Diplomacy Gordan Grlić Radman, and the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

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