Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia Haakon Blankenborg on Thursday presented to Minister Natasa Tramisak a €30.6 grant agreement to strengthen the STEM education of primary school children, and this contract was awarded within the Local Development and Poverty Reduction programme.

On 3 July 2018, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway signed new cooperation agreements with Croatia on a number of new programmes under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, and one of those programmes is Local Development and Poverty Reduction.

These schemes are funded in the proportion of 85% by the EEA (European Economic Area) and 15% from he Croatian budget.

An additional 100,000 euros is also available to boost bilateral relations between Croatia and the donor-countries: Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

Presenting the grant agreement today, Ambassador Blankenborg said that Croatia and Norway were partners in many sectors.

Commenting on the targets of the programme which will be funded with €30.6 million, the diplomat said that students and teachers would acquire relevant skills and tools for the improvement of their own life and the life of their communities, and all of that would help reduce social and economic differences.

The money provided by this agreement will be spent for the STEM education in primary schools and €23.53 million of this grant is set aside for that purpose, while an additional €3.53 million will be used for the equipment of 27 centres for the education of children with disabilities.

The implementation of this project will be supported by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education (DIKU).

Croatian EU Funds and regional Development Minister Tramisak said that this assistance was part of a €103.4 million programme, and of that amount, €56.8 million is ensured by the EEA financial mechanism, €46.6 million by the Norwegian financial mechanism and and the remaining 9.8 million is ensured by Croatia.