Croatia to open embassy in Jakarta to boost ties
Croatia to open embassy in Jakarta to boost ties
JAKARTA (JP): Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mate Granic is due to visit Indonesia and officially open his country's embassy in Jakarta on March 26.
Granic's visit is aimed at further improving relations between Indonesia and Croatia, which declared independence in 1991.
Marijan Oresnik, counselor at the Croatian Embassy, said yesterday the three-day visit would be part of a tour of countries in the region.
Granic will arrive on March 24 accompanied by his wife, Assistant Minister for Political Relations Frane Krnic, Assistant Minister for Economic Relations Spomenka Cek and two other members of the ministry.
With the opening of the new embassy on the 21st floor of Mulia Tower on Jl. Gatot Subroto, it is hoped that economic relations between the two countries can again pickup.
Croatia's first ambassador, Zeljko Kirincic, handed his credentials to President Soeharto in January.
Croatia is one of the republics which declared independence after much of the Yugoslav federation dissolved.
Yugoslavia still maintains an embassy in Jakarta, while facilities for a Bosnian embassy have been donated by Moslem entrepreneurs here but has yet to be opened.
Granic will be the second highest Croatian official to visit Indonesia after last year's visit by Prime Minister Nikica Jalentic.
President Soeharto also stopped over for a brief visit to the capital city of Zagreb in March of last year.
The Croatian Embassy's second secretary for economic affairs, Robert Takac, hopes that economic cooperation between the two countries will be further boosted in the coming years.
He stressed that Indonesia and Croatia have a long history of trade and cooperation dating back to the days of the old Yugoslavia.
"The ties are there, they just need to be reestablished," he said adding that two-way trade now stood at only US$3.5 million.
Takac said that in the past about 90 percent of Yugoslav business with Indonesia originated from the Croatian area.
The major areas for cooperation include shipbuilding and the chemical industry.
In March the Indonesian state-owned oil company Pertamina signed a letter of understanding with its Croatian counterpart, INA Oil Industries Ltd, for cooperation in oil and gas exploration, the sale of liquefied natural gas and industrial material and services. (mds)