Financial Tribune- Croatia’s deputy prime minister and economy minister Martina Dalic was due to arrive in Tehran on Saturday for a five-day visit.

The official visit is at the invitation of her Iranian counterpart Masoud Karbasian, Croatia’s Economy Ministry announced.

The Croatian minister will attend the inauguration of an international oil and gas exhibition “Iran Oil Show 2018,” Total Croatia News reported.

A joint trade forum between economic players of Iran and Croatia has been scheduled at the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture’s headquarters in Tehran on May 7.

Dalic is scheduled to attend the forum.

According to the official news service of ICCIMA, the meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. local time.

The visit comes after an ICCIMA delegation traveled to Zagreb in September. The mission comprised 30 members of the chamber active in the fields of construction, food, energy, banking, carpet and textile.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and a number of other senior officials in Zagreb in March. The Croatian premier said cooperation with Iran, especially in the economic and trade sectors, should be continued and expanded.

The Iranian foreign minister expressed his readiness to help develop Tehran-Zagreb relations in all fields, including halal tourism, energy, agriculture, food industry, advanced technology and banking.

Zarif traveled to Croatia on the third leg of his tour of the Balkans and Eastern Europe that had already taken him to Serbia and Bulgaria.

The governor of the Central Bank of Croatia said last year that the European nation’s biggest lender is eager to connect with its Iranian counterparts.

“We have initiated negotiations with Croatian banks so that cooperation between Iranian and Croatian banks can begin in payment transactions and fortunately we have made good progress,” Boris Vujcic was quoted as saying.

“In this regard, Croatia’s biggest bank is looking to expand and deepen its ties with Iran,” he added.

Hrvatska postanska banka or HPB is the largest Croatian bank. According to its website, the Republic of Croatia directly owns 42.42% of its shares while the rest belongs to other state entities.

Iran traded $4.77 million worth of non-oil goods with Croatia during the last Iranian year (ended March 20), 31.14% less compared to the year before, making the Eastern European country Iran’s 80th biggest trading partner.

As per the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s data, Iran exported 1,980 tons of commodities worth $1.25 million to Croatia last year, posting a 591.28% and 269.97% increase in tonnage and in value respectively year-on-year.

The exports mainly included lead, float glass and pistachio.

Croatia exported 382 tons of goods worth $3.52 million to Iran during the period under review, up 212.77% and down 46.58% in tonnage and value respectively YOY.

Iran mainly imported machinery, vaccines and turbojet parts from Croatia.

Data provided by Croatia’s national statistical office, which takes into account oil trade, puts bilateral exchanges in 2017 at €58 million, of which Iran’s exports constituted €52.8 million. Croatia’s export rose 33.6% to €5.3 million.

Shipbuilding industry, with a 10% share in Croatia’s exports, constitutes a major part of the country’s industrial sector. Tourism, food and chemical processing are Croatia’s other active economic sectors.