Britain's Ambassador to Croatia, David Blunt, and the Embassy's UKTI team hosted a small British Marine Federation (BMF) delegation between 4-7 April on the Croatian Coast.

The BMF, a 1500 member trade association representing the UK small leisure and commercial marine industry, visited Croatian firms from Split, Dugopolje, Sibenik, Zadar and Obrovac in an effort to encourage trade relations between the UK and Croatia in this area. This was the second such mission to Croatia; the initial visit took place in 2004.

'This was a fascinating visit which helped to change our view of the Croatian marine industry and I expect that it will have a positive impact on trade between the countries', said Chris Grosscurth, leader of the BMF. He added, 'There are interesting opportunities for some ideal partnerships, which is why we would like to have Croatian firms visit the UK soon.'

David Blunt used the trip to visit Radio Split and the new premises of the daily newspaper, Slobodna Dalmacija. He met the respective editors-in-chief of these two influential media houses and was a live guest on the popular afternoon radio show before an interview with a journalist on the latter.

'Relations between the UK and Croatia have been described as the best ever. The UK is pleased to welcome Croatia as a Nato ally and it will continue to assist Croatia in its EU accession process through a strategic partnership, which will benefit Croatians', said the Ambassador to the audiences.

Between interviews, he gave a presentation to a group of researchers at the Split-based Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences on the challenges which Croatia faces.

Ambassador Blunt also visited a number of UK companies at the Croatia Boat Show over the weekend.