TIRANA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Albania and Croatia will work to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Albanian President Ilir Meta declared on Wednesday after the meeting with his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who is on a two-day visit to Albania.

The two presidents held a joint press conference, highlighting the centuries-old friendship between Albanian and Croatian people.

"Croatia and Albania have a very early friendship, and this is confirmed by many important historical moments. I thank our Croatian friends, who have unconditionally supported us in the process of Albania's European Union integration," underlined Meta.

Kitarovic in her speech said that the focus of today's meeting was on how to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries.

"I would like to mention the improvement of our economic and trade relations, as well as transport and infrastructure links. When talking about cooperation in the economy, I think this can be improved more during trade exchanges, especially during 2017, where it grew by 20 percent, as it was before," said Kitarovic.

During her two-day visit, Kitarovic will also have meetings with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Speaker of the Parliament Gramoz Ruci, and will hold a greeting speech to MPs in the Albanian Parliament.