As part of Croatia’s presiding over the Steering Committee of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) June 2015-May 2016, the second meeting of the Steering Committee was held 7 October in Zagreb. Culture Minister Berislav Šipuš underlined the role of cultural tourism as the basis for cooperation and joint building of the future of the Adriatic and Ionian Region. Cultural tourism should be profiled as an important industry for economic growth, creating jobs and sustainable development of the region. It is precisely here that the EUSAIR can play a crucial role. Assistant Foreign Minister Maja Bakran Marcich thanked the present parties for their constructive work in implementing the Strategy. Croatia has the honour to be the first state party to co-chair the Steering Committee and will host the first EUSAIR annual forum. As its main topics, Bakran Marcich highlighted the visibility of the Adriatic and Ionian Region, notably in terms of tourism and attracting investments, energy and transport, small and medium-size entrepreneurship, education and a stable governing system. It was underscored that implementing the EUSAIR should be flexible to new challenges that affect all the Adriatic-Ionian countries, e.g. the current refugee crisis.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the EUSAIR state parties (Croatia, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania), the European Commission, European Parliament, Permanent Secretariat of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, ECOSOC, Committee of the Regions, ADRION governing body et al.
Implementation of the EUSAIR began in November 2014 at the inaugural conference in Brussels, after which the governing structure has been set up at the political, coordination and implementation level. The main topics included functioning and coordination between thematic steering groups, linking the EUSAIR and different financing sources, preparing the strategic project on EUSAIR governing, ADRION, setting up a platform of co-partners and organization of the first EUSAIR annual forum in Croatia.