ZAGREB, April 23, 2018 – Potential for economic cooperation between Croatia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is great, and the EXPO 2020 which will be held in Dubai will serve as a good opportunity for the promotion of Croatian companies in the country, Ivan Barbarić of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said at a Croatia-UAE forum in Zagreb.
Barbarić spoke about business opportunities which Dubai provides such as investments in transport, railway, machinery, industry, construction, energy and healthcare sectors. With the brilliant mark they left on that market and a long tradition in producing innovative products and services with high added values, Croatian companies can help their partners from Dubai in efforts to accomplish their goals, he said.
During 2017, Croatia’s exports to the UAE totalled 30 million dollars and the imports were 1.5 million dollars, Barbarić said. He recalled a recent visit of the UAE ambassador to Croatia, Ali Abdullah Al Ahmed, to the HGK and their talks on which of the Croatian companies could take part in EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Recently, a flight service between Zagreb and Dubai has been introduced.
Mohammad Ali Al-Kamali, deputy CEO of the government agency Dubai Exports, said that the development of trading connections contributed to making bilateral relations stronger, and added that the UAE had made analyses that showed that Croatia is considered to be one of the most important gateways for access to other markets.
Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs is set to open its embassy in Dubai soon.
The HGK also organised B2B talks between 15 UAE companies and institutions and their 70 Croatian hosts in the fields of food industry, pharmaceuticals, metal processing industry, electrical engineering, construction and finance.
EXPO 2020 is to be hosted by Dubai, opening on October 20, 2020.
