On 2. December 2009 a presentation on the Croatian- Norwegian cooperation on maritime and marine business development was held at the Croatian Chamber of Economy in Zagreb. The presentation- “Sea of Opportunities” - was opened by Mrs. Dunja Konjevod, Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy and the Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia, Mr. Terje Hauge. In his speech, Ambassador Hauge mentioned the many similarities between Norway and Croatia and emphasized that both countries’ strong maritime heritage makes the maritime sector an obvious candidate for close future cooperation.
The presentations were made by the director of CroNoMar, Mr. Malvin Villabø. CroNoMar is a maritime and marine oriented innovation company, funded by the Norwegian government in order to promote business development and cooperation in Croatia. In addition to presenting CroNoMar’s main activities and visions in Croatia Mr. Villabø gave an outline of the Norwegian model for business development and the operational concept, “from idea to business”. The presentations were followed by a speech by the Vice Mayor of Šibenik, Mr. Petar Baranović, on the Šibernik initiative and the iNavis Innovation Centre.
After the presentations the participants were invited to a reception hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador. The event gathered many representatives from Ministries and institutions, indicating that the maritime cooperation between Norway and Croatia creates interest and attention in Croatia. All in all the events in Zagreb bode well for the future maritime cooperation between Norway and Croatia.