With intensive promotion of Croatia's potentials in Japan last few years, there is a growing awareness that Croatia has a chance to become the strong link in investments of Japanese companies in the countries of Central Europe.
With intensive promotion of Croatia's potentials in Japan last few years, there is a growing awareness that Croatia has a chance to become the strong link in investments of Japanese companies in the countries of Central Europe.
Geostrategic position of Croatia, its excellent new highways, reconstruction and modernization of the Port of Rijeka, the railway Rijeka-Karlovac-Zagreb-Botovo (→ Budapest) within the Pan-European VB corridor and efforts in explaining to Japanese side the Croatian achievements and Croatia's readiness to cooperate with Japan, resulted with the Japanese Government and Japanese businessmen's understanding about the comparative advantages that our country offers regarding the transportation, human resources, creativity and aesthetically appealing environment.
Croatia is beautiful, ecologically healthy country of a mild climate and with four seasons. With educated and creative people and its blend of natural beauty, rich and diverse heritage and tradition that are alluring to Japanese, Croatia is becoming more and more attractive tourist destination as has been proven by the last year's first direct charter flights from Tokyo to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Comparing to last year, the number of Japanese tourists that have visited Croatia in the period of January to August 2008 has doubled. This shows a constant rise of popularity of Croatia as Japanese tourist destination.
The recent arrival of Croatian spring water (Jana, Jamnica) on Japanese market, Croatian investment seminars organized in June 2007 and in March 2008 by the Embassy of Croatia in Tokyo and the Japanese Institute for Overseas Investment, as well as the workshops on Croatian tourism held in Tokyo in 2007 and 2008, that were attended by many Japanese, show that Japanese side has a great interest in strengthening the economic relations with Croatia. Particularly successful official visit to Japan by Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic in March 2008 on the occasion of 15th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Croatia and Japan, is also the sign of Japanese recognition of Croatia's investments, export and tourist potentials. This new perception of Croatia in Japan is best reflected by the words of Mr. Sadakazu Tanigaki, the Prime Minister's candidate and former Minister of Finance, who on the occasion of this year's Croatian National Day in Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri wrote that “Japan is currently passing through Croatia boom”.
Numerous cultural projects like great Lado Japanese tour in 2006, exhibitions of Croatian contemporary graphics at the end of 2006, many concerts (Ivo Pogorelic, Maksim Mrvica, Evgeny Zarafiants, Mia Elezovic, Kemal Gekic, Kristina Bjelopavlovic; only to mention some of Croatian piano players), exhibition “Squaring the Circle – Rounding the Square” which visually explores the relation between the square and the circle, symbols of Croatia and Japan, strengthening of ties between the sister cities (Kyoto-Zagreb, Hekinan-Pula, Kawasaki-Rijeka) and the ones that are in progress (Nagasaki-Vukovar, Hiroshima-Vukovar and Tokamachi–Croatian Football Association) contribute to the profile of our unique and beautiful homeland. The bilateral relations are not only about the export of Adriatic tuna to Japan or trade exchange numbers but also about the human and cultural ties between our two countries. Lately, Croatia and Japan have discovered mutual harmony and sincere appreciation for each other; what's now left is to guide further our close cooperation by the synergic diplomatic action towards the common goal.
Tokyo, October 5, 2008
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