Plenković attends the Japan-Croatia Economic Forum in Osaka

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković continued his official visit to Japan today by attending the Japan-Croatia Economic Forum in Osaka. Around sixty Croatian companies, spanning the food goods sector to the IT industry, participated in the forum seeking out new partnerships.

Speaking to reporters after the forum Prime Minister Andrej Plenković outlined which areas Japanese businesses are interested in strengthening economic cooperation: “They're interested in importing Croatian agricultural goods. It is well known that Croatia's primary export to Japan is the Adriatic Tuna, which is highly valued in Japan, and think that we can build on this with other agricultural products. But there's also our pharmaceutical industry, IT sector and digital technology, as well as our logistics companies that are also represented here. It seems to me that they are all ready to make the connections to increase our bilateral trade with Japan.”

The President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Luka Burilović, noted that Croatia offers a strategic geographical position, stability and legal security, access to the European market and competent personnel, while Japan offers technology, capital and innovation: “Croatian exports to Japan are registering strong growth this year. We're seeing a recovery from last year, with roughly eighty million euros in bilateral trade in the first six months of the year. But more importantly, Croatia's surplus is growing for the first time in many years.”

Prime Minister Plenković also participated in Croatia's National Day at the World Expo in Osaka: “It is a true privilege to be here and to participate in this global platform that celebrates innovation, dialogue and cultural exchange. We believe that EXPO represents more than just an exhibition. It is a place where nations come together to exchange ideas and inspire collective solutions to the global challenges. We are living in a decade marked by multiple overlapping crises with unpredictable consequences for our economies, societies and global stability. In the face of such constant and complex challenges, the only effective response is a collective one.”

The theme of Croatia's exhibit at the EXPO is "Climadiversity." It features an immersive, multi-sensory pavilion that showcases the diversity of Croatia's five different climates and its natural beauty by transmitting real-time temperature, humidity, and thermal conditions from 45 meteorological stations from across the country. The national commissioner for Croatia's EXPO pavilion, Zdenko Lucić: “More than 370 thousand visitors have already passed through our pavilion, and we've been getting very good feedback from visitors, many of them returning for a second visit, because the pavilion transmits the temperature in Croatia to Japan in real time, so every visit to the pavilion is different.”

Source: HRT