India and Croatia Discuss Collaboration in Railways, EVs, Defence, Healthcare,  Renewable Energy, and Food Processing Sectors

Commerce Secretary, Government of India, Shri Sunil Barthwal, visited the Republic of Croatia from 22–23 April 2025, where he held bilateral discussions with Mr. Zdenko Lucić, State Secretary for Foreign Trade and Development, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and Mr. Ivo Milatić, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy. The meetings focused on advancing India-Croatia trade and investment relations, promoting sectoral collaboration, and reinforcing India’s engagement with the Central European region.

During the meeting with Mr. Zdenko Lucić, State Secretary for Foreign Trade and Development,discussions centered around taking forward the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and enhancing bilateral trade cooperation.The discussions focused on taking forward the EU-India FTA and strengthening bilateral trade relations. The Commerce Secretary mentioned the visit of EU President and 27 Commissioners to India as the first visit of the College of Commissioners outside the European continent since the start of their new mandate and also the first such visit in the history of India-EU bilateral ties. Commerce Secretary mentioned about the areas of collaboration between the two countries like Railways, Global Capability Centers, Electric Vehicles, IT etc. Croatian side apprised about their interest of investment in Defence sector (about flagship products of India), solar cells production, food processing technology, Automobiles, knowledge sharing amongst other sectors.

In the meeting of Commerce Secretary with Mr. Ivo Milatić, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy, discussion was focused on promoting investment flows, and enhancing cooperation across key sectors including Healthcare, Education, Tourism, Entertainment (mentioned about WAVES summit), Supply-Chain integration, Logistics, Transports, Pharmaceuticals, Digital Technology, Renewable Energy and Manufacturing. For the 3^rd Session of Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation which is due, both sides exchanged their views on improving the work of the commission with more frequent meetings and directly connecting the entrepreneurs of both the countries for a stronger and faster progress.

The Commerce Secretary also participated in a business interaction event “Exploring Economic Cooperation Opportunities between India and Croatia” organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy (CCE), where he met with the heads of various industry associations and leading Croatian business representatives. A presentation on the Croatian Economy, the trade and investment relations between India and Croatia and Industries potential on key sectors of mutual interest was shown. The event provided a platform to explore opportunities for collaboration, address trade facilitation measures, and promote mutual business interests. Successful business cases of Croatian Companies in the Indian Market were also presented.

The visit reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening engagement with the Central European region and underscored the shared interest in expanding commercial partnerships between Indian and Croatian enterprises.

Economic cooperation expands trade and investment ties, targeting railways, EVs, defence, renewable energy and healthcare collaborations. Bilateral economic cooperation aims to deepen trade and investment ties by advancing the EU-India Free Trade Agreement agenda and promoting investment across Railways, Electric Vehicles, Defence, Renewable Energy, Food Processing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Digital Technology and Manufacturing, with an emphasis on technology transfer, supply chain integration and capacity building. Institutional measures include reinvigorating the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation for more frequent meetings and direct entrepreneur engagement, and leveraging business interaction platforms for investment promotion and trade facilitation to translate dialogue into commercial projects.