Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic on Wednesday received the ambassadors to Croatia from the United Kingdom, Spain and China - Simon Derek Thomas, Alonso Dezcallar De Mazarredo, and Qi Qianjin, with whom he discussed closer cooperation with their countries, the parliament said in a press release.

Jandrokovic and British Ambassador Thomas talked about defence cooperation and partnership within the framework of NATO and economic relations, and they in particular welcomed the progress in strengthening cooperation in the IT industry, research and development, technology and smart cities, the press release says.

They cited the “Rimac Automobili” company expanding its business to Great Britain as an example of excellent cooperation in the technology sector.

Jandrokovic and Thomas spoke about the current situation in Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of Southeast Europe.

In his talks with Spanish Ambassador De Mazarredo, Jandrokovic said that relations with Spain were “very good and friendly, with a tendency of intensifying in all areas of common interest.”

Croatia and Spain recorded positive trade results in 2021 and good cooperation in the field of energy, transport and tourism.

Jandrokovic said he was pleased with the number of Spanish tourists to Croatia last year despite the pandemic.

The newly appointed ambassador presented Jandrokovic with an invitation to a Spain-Croatia inter-parliamentary forum. Jandrokovic accepted the invitation from Spain’s parliament speaker and said he hoped the forum would enable even tighter cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Qi Qianjin was on an inaugural visit to the parliament. He and Jandrokovic pointed out the Peljesac Bridge as the best example of cooperation, saying that the bridge would be open to traffic in the year marking 30 years of diplomatic relations between Croatia and China.

With the aim of strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation, Jandrokovic accepted an invitation to attend a video meeting with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Li Zhanshu.

In addition to important projects like the Senj wind park, an important Chinese investment project in Croatia, also discussed were other areas with the potential to strengthen economic cooperation within the China+16 Initiative.

The meeting highlighted the significance of Chinese visitors for Croatia’s tourism and expressed hope for even more Chinese tourists in the years to come, the press release said.