On 3rd December 1997, the AER Bureau elected Ivan Jakovcic as the new President of the East-West Committee (II). Mr Jakovcic is 41 years old and a graduate from the Zagreb Foreign trade Faculty. He has been the President of the Istrian regional party, “IDS-DDI” since 1991. In 1992 he entered the Chamber of Deputies of the Croatian Parliament and re-entered in 1995 and 1997. Within the Croatian Parliament, Mr Jakovcic is a member of the Commission for External Policy and also President of the Commission for interregional cooperation and relations with the emigrants of the Istra Regional Assembly. Istra, one of the 23 regions in Croatia, became a member of the AER in October 1994 and Mr Jakovcic has been a member of the Bureau since 1996.