Expressing support for Croatia's bid to join the European Union, Huber said the Bavarian government believed that debates about whether the EU could take on another enlargement round referred only to countries that would apply for EU membership after Croatia's admission.
Croatia's Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Minister Branko Vukelic acquainted Bavarian business people with information on the development of the Croatian economy and investment possibilities.
Croatia is interested in cooperating with Bavaria in areas in which the German federal state has highly developed technologies, such as environmental protection and waste management, Vukelic said, mentioning also the possibility of cooperation on projects to be financed from EU pre-accession funds.
Around 1,300 Bavarian companies have partners in Croatia, Croatia's trade with Bavaria accounts for 20 percent of the country's overall trade with Germany, and Croatia is one of the ten most important trade partners of the most developed German state.
Bilateral trade in 2006 amounted to EUR 660 million, 8 percent up from 2005, the most frequently traded goods being Croatian textile products and Bavarian vehicles and machines.
Croatia has been registering a deficit in trade with Bavaria, but its exports have been recently growing faster than imports from Bavaria, the Croatian minister said.
The economic forum was held as part of Croatia Day, an event organised by the Munich and Upper Bavaria Chamber of Industry and Trade and the Croatian Chamber of Economy.
After the forum, Bavarian and Croatian business people held talks.