ZAGREB, 24 Sept (Hina) – Croatia signed a Joint Statement on the AI Opportunity in New York on Wednesday, joining a US-led initiative for countries committed to secure supply chains and regulatory frameworks that promote growth and innovation, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said.

The statement lays the groundwork for cooperation between the USA and strategic partners committed to a regulatory environment supporting growth and innovation, according to the US State Department.

The agreement aims to empower startups, researchers and the private sector and align US supply chains with those of Pax Silica signatories.

The initiative, launched late last year, seeks to secure supplies of materials essential to AI development, including critical minerals, chips and semiconductors, which have become the focus of growing geopolitical competition.

By signing the statement, Croatia “reaffirms its commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative potential for innovation, competitiveness and economic growth”, the ministry said.

At the “Seizing the AI Opportunity”, a high-level event on artificial intelligence held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Croatia also demonstrated its readiness to work closely with the US and other like-minded countries pursuing an “ambitious, innovation-driven approach to AI”, the ministry said.