THE CENTRAL European Initiative (CEI) should focus on removing current economic and trade barriers among its member countries, Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan said at a May 27 CEI meeting in the High Tatras, the TASR news agency reported.
According to Kukan, Slovakia, which currently presides over the CEI, will facilitate this by improving the dialogue between CEI members.
"Liberalization of trade, harmonization of trade policy, direct foreign investment, implementation of strategic projects in transport, tourism, and the support of small- and medium-sized businesses, should be the central interests of each member state," he said.
The CEI includes EU members, as well as non-EU members - Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Serbia and Monte Negro. It was created in 1989.
6. Jun 2005 at 0:00 | From press reports