Vukelic informed his host about the economic situation in Croatia, the Croatian Ministry of the Economy said in a press release on Thursday.
Gutierrez said that the US was closely following the development of the Croatian economy and that he was impressed with the progress Croatia was making and with the country's economic growth in the past three years.
The interest of US business people in investing in Croatia has increased considerably as of late, particularly in the energy sector and tourism.
It was agreed at the meeting that both state institutions and professional business associations would become involved in the process of informing potential US investors with investment opportunities in Croatia.
According to Vukelic, Gutierrez said the US administration strongly supported Croatia in its efforts to join the European Union.
Vukelic said he had highlighted Croatia's need and desire to remain in the system of general privileges, which Gutierrez said was a very important segment of Croatian-US trade relations.
Last year Croatian exports to the US totalled USD305.1 million, a 44.5 per cent increase over 2004, while imports from the US amounted to USD397.6 million, or 11 per cent more than in 2004, according to figures from the Croatian Ministry of the Economy.
Trade between Croatia and the US was USD702.7 million, accounting for 2.6 per cent of Croatia's overall foreign trade. The export-import ratio was 77 per cent.
In the first half of 2006, exports to the US rose 31 per cent over the same period last year to reach USD163 million, while imports declined 12 per cent to USD181 million.