Croatia's Economy Minister, Martina Dalic, has met with Iranian officials to discuss ways of strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, with special emphasis on establishing payment operations, the Economy Ministry said in a press release on Monday.

“Deputy Prime Minister Dalic said she was pleased that Croatian companies were welcome in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as shown by the already closed deals,” the Economy Ministry said.

Dalic, on an official visit to Iran from May 5 to 8, has met with the Iranian Vice President, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, the Finance Minister, Masoud Karbasian, and the Central Bank Governor, Valiollah Seif.

“A market of 80 million people in Iran opens numerous opportunities for Croatian companies, particularly in areas of energy, engineering, the food industry, pharmaceuticals, tourism, and such,” Dalic said.

A Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) delegation is also visiting Iran, and will attend an Iranian-Croatian economic forum, where the first meeting of the two chambers’ business council will be held. The council was established last year, with the aim of detecting and resolving problems in economic cooperation between the two countries.

As potential areas of cooperation the HGK highlighted the oil and gas sector, the automobile industry, the electricity and energy sector, shipbuilding, the food industry, tourism and the railway sector.

In 2017, trade between Croatia and Iran reached €58 million, according to data provided by the Croatian state statistics bureau. Croatia’s exports totalled €5.3 million, a rise of 33.6 percent in comparison to 2016, whereas imports from Iran soared to €52.8 million from €537,000 in 2016.