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Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev during his official visit to Zagreb on Thursday, and they agreed that there was great potential for improving trade between the two countries.
Jandroković congratulated Aliyev on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. Croatia and Azerbaijan signed a declaration on strategic partnership in 2013, and the two officials agreed that it was the basis for deepening relations in all areas and that the opening of the Croatian Embassy in Baku would contribute to this.
They talked about strengthening parliamentary cooperation within interparliamentary friendship groups, and Jandrokovic accepted an invitation to visit Azerbaijan soon.
They underlined the need to intensify trade, citing the recently-established Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation which should open new possibilities for the further development of relations. Also discussed were energy security and projects of common interest.
Trade between Croatia and Azerbaijan reached EUR 226.1 million in 2017, an increase of 3.4 percent over the previous year. However, the Croatian trade deficit was EUR 224.6 million as Croatian exports plummeted by as much as 53 percent to a symbolic EUR 698,000, while imports rose by 3.9 percent to EUR 225.4 million.(Hina/Press Office)