Croatia's Health Ministry, the HZ Infrastruktura railway maintenance company and three other Croatian companies signed agreements on Friday in Dubrovnik on cooperation with Chinese business partners, including agreements on projects to build a football stadium in Rijeka and develop the Zagreb-Rijeka railroad.

Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Darko Horvat is certain that the agreements signed today will turn into concrete contracts. China is prepared to invest in Croatia and thus enter Central and Eastern Europe, Horvat underscored.

“There are more than 360 companies here from 17 countries, with almost 1,000 participants. Of that number, more than one hundred are representatives of the banking sector. New models of financing were presented and the opportunity has been created for Chinese financial institutions to enter Croatia so that those projects that currently can’t obtain EU grants, can be financed and implemented,” Horvat said.

Speaking of the ailing Uljanik shipbuilding group, Horvat underscored that Chinese shipbuilders would be arriving in Croatia in the next two weeks.

The Top International Engineering Corporation (TIEC) from China signed today two agreements on cooperation with Croatian partners, for the construction of a new football stadium in Rijeka and accompanying facilities, a hotel and business centre, and for the use of renewable energy sources.

“A concrete contract will be signed in one year’s time on the project to build a football stadium in accordance with UEFA standards, a hotel and a business centre in Rijeka. Cooperation could be expanded to include the construction of a marina,” the general director of the Kantrida Stadium company, Luka Ivancic, said.

TIEC will assist the other partner, the Eco Consult company, in implementing clean energy technology on the Chinese market, particularly in manufacturing industries that are large energy consumers and emit large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, Eco Consult director Goran Pavlovic said.

Together with its partners – China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Corporation and China Road and Bridge Corporation – HZ Infrastruktura has established cooperation in the transport sector, specifically on the Rijeka-Zagreb railroad project and the Mediterranean corridor.

The Metamorfoza company has agreed with the Shangai Everglow Management Partners in China to open the largest ever Museum of Illusions in Shanghai at the end of June this year.

“We are continuing to expand and are starting cooperation on the Chinese market by opening the Museum of Illusions in Shanghai, which is an excellent way to mark the beginning of the Croatian and Chinese year of culture and tourism,” Antonija Prstacic of Metamorfoza said.

The Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering and China Road and Bridge Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding facilitating student mobility and exchange.

Croatian Chamber of Commerce president Luka Burilovic expressed his satisfaction with the Dubrovnik forum.

“This forum is a turning point in economic relations between Croatia and China. Croatian private companies are arranging concrete deals through direct talks. We are exploiting the advantage of ‘home ground.’ It is good that public strategic projects have been foregrounded,” Burilovic underscored.

The Health Ministry signed a letter of intent with the Sinopharm pharmaceutical company on cooperation in science, health tourism, treatment, financial support and treatment of Chinese patients in Croatia.

“This has laid the foundation for concrete negotiations on projects, from specialisation courses to the referral of patients and investments in health tourism,” Health Minister Milan Kujundzic said, adding that this included the possible arrival of Chinese physicians in Croatia.