Croatian-Norwegian Maritime Cooperation
Ivana Sučić from the Croatian Ministry of Economy and Norwegian Ambassador Treje Hauge. Photo: Silje Horrisland
01/03/2010 //
Norway and Croatia are both coastal nations with a strong maritime and marine heritage and rich traditions within this sector. Last year the two countries arranged a roundtable discussion on the topic of maritime cooperation and a process towards closer cooperation was initiated. A bilateral Steering Committee assisted by a Working Group was established in order to explore the potential for Maritime Cooperation between Croatia and Norway .
On 19 November 2009, Norwegian Ambassador Terje Hauge handed over the final report on Croatian-Norwegian Maritime Cooperation to the Croatian Ministry of Economy. The report, prepared by the Croatian-Norwegian Steering Committee, highlights the common goals to strengthen the overall economic cooperation, especially in the maritime sector. Due to both countries rich maritime and marine heritage and traditions the scope for potential bilateral cooperation in this sector is broad. Ambassador Hauge emphasized the excellent bilateral relations between Norway and Croatia and mentioned that the recent financial and economic crisis only calls for closer partnership in the future. The perspective of Croatian EU membership, with participation in the European Economic Area (EEA) will open up new possibilities for strengthening the bilateral cooperation also in the maritime field. The report proposes to establish a joint forum for Maritime cooperation, with the company CroNoMar in Šibenik acting as a Secretariat for the Forum. The Royal Norwegian Embassy will, in cooperation with CroNoMar, present future visions for the bilateral cooperation at a reception in Zagreb on 2 December 2009.