The Croatian ambassador to Japan gave an extensive briefing on business opportunities in Croatia to attract Korean investors, particularly in the shipbuilding industry, research and development and information and technology.

Ambassador Drago Stambuk, who was on one of many diplomatic trips to Seoul as a non-resident ambassador to Korea, said those are the fields of industry in which either Croatia has traditionally been strong, or sees potential. along with its environmental-friendliness.

Shipbuilding yards in Croatia are a driving force for its economy, and the ambassador sees it is where Korean investors have a special interest.

When a group of Korean business delegates visited Croatia in July, they expressed a huge interest in shipbuilding. Stambuk hopes to accomplish privatization of the Croatian shipbuilding industry in cooperation with the Korean firms.

To this end, the ambassador said consultations with the European Union are underway as Croatia prepares to enter the EU in the near future, and answers to inquiries will soon be available.

Croatia has introduced ``free zones`` in which foreign investors are guaranteed incentives on tax reduction, and the ambassador hinted admission to the zones before Croatia's EU entry, it expects sometime in 2009, would make investment more advantageous.

Infrastructure also began to appear on the map of Croatia. Rijeka, a port city in the Adriatic Sea will complete its construction by 2009 or 2010, when its strategic importance as the deepest port in the Sea will be in full force, the ambassador said.

``If you think of a Korean ship going through the Suez Cannel to the Mediterranean Sea to go to your destination, mostly central Europe of Czecho and Hungary, you can save nine days by going through Rijeka. Croatia has the best access to Europe,' he said.

Croatia's ambition for R&D and information and technology rather than heavy industry was a decision to conserve their ``beautiful nature,' the ambassador said. Croatia has maintained its natural parks, not only appreciated by the Croatians but by foreign tourists.

When flying from the capital Zagreb to the coastal city of Split, the ambassador prefers to be in a window seat in order to admire the scenery.

George Bernard Shaw, famous Irish author, once said, ``If you want to see paradise on earth, go to Dubrovnik, (a port city in Croatia).'

According to wikipedia.org, Croatia is the world's 18th most popular destination for tourists. The number of Korean tourists is also on the rise. Last year, it recorded 8,000. The ambassador said it is a very positive signal, and hoped it continues to grow.

The more interaction including tourism that occurs between the two countries, the more important it became for both to have direct communication.

The initiative was taken first by Korea last year naming a resident ambassador in Croatia, since the two established diplomatic relations in 1992.

``We made a decision quite a while ago to establish an embassy in Seoul, but because of budgetary restrictions, we haven't made it yet, but it's on the agenda. I hope it will eventually happen.' This year, the two countries celebrate the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relations.