Bosnia, China to boost economic ties

BosniaSarajevo - Bosnia and China agreed Friday to seek closer economic ties, and a Bosnian official said his country would welcome Chinese investment.

Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang signed three cooperation deals in Sarajevo after a visit to Germany and before heading to Macedonia for talks also expected to focus on trade and investment.

"We agreed that we should significantly strengthen our economic and trade cooperation," Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Nikola Spiric said.

Both sides agreed to activate a committee to define priorities in economic cooperation, he told reporters.

Bosnia's main trading partners are Croatia, Slovenia, Germany and Italy.

Bosnian authorities will secure equal conditions for Chinese companies to take part in privatizations and the process of building and rebuilding, local media quoted Spiric as saying.

Bosnia is interested in investments in power generation, wood processing, tourism and agriculture, he said.

Spiric and Dejiang also signed a cultural cooperation accord and documents to promote mutual investment and human resource exchanges.

Bosnia's Premier Spiric said after the meeting that the two countries should further improve the economic cooperation.

Meetings with Bosnia-Herzegovina's tripartite presidency - representing Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats - were also on Dejian's agenda. (dpa)