"Austrian investments will gather further momentum in the coming years," Vukelic told reporters after meeting his Austrian counterpart Martin Bartenstein.
Austria has been the leading investor in Croatia over the last 15 years, with 22 per cent of all investment projects, and is Croatia's sixth largest foreign trade partner. Austrians are the fourth most numerous foreign tourists vacationing in Croatia, according to data from Vukelic's ministry.
Before meeting Bartenstein, Vukelic attended an Austrian-Croatian economic forum in Vienna, together with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.
According to Bartenstein, one of the main topics discussed was the construction of a liquefied gas terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk, which the Austrian minister described as "an important energy and political project".
Vukelic said that they had also discussed exports, notably continuation of the Croatian export offensive, which was launched on the model of the Austrian export strategy.
In 2006, Croatia's exports to Austria amounted to USD 627 million, while imports from Austria totalled USD 1.2 billion, according to the Croatian Ministry of the Economy. The export-import ratio was 54 per cent.
Croatia aims to step up investment in the production sector, Vukelic said.