Urlic said that Admiral La Rosa expressed readiness to help Croatia in modernising its military.
The Italian official said that both Italy and Croatia today belonged to the NATO alliance from which they would together build a better future.
Croatia's admission to NATO offers a chance to create a better future, the Italian admiral said.
Croatia joined the alliance on 1 April this year.
Also on Tuesday, the two officials also held a wreath-laying ceremony on the southern Croatian island of Vis in memory of soldiers who were killed during the 1866 naval battle for Vis. After Vienna Congress in 1815, Vis got under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy. The monarchy realised the island's strategic importance, so it built fortress Battery. This proved to be extremely important, because Vis rejected the first attack of the Italian fleet in 1866 thus stopping the Italian breakthrough in the Adriatic.