The forum pooled representatives of about 50 companies from Croatia and Macedonia each.
Opening the event, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader pointed out the traditionally good bilateral political and economic relations. He added that the two countries also had a joint future in the European Union.
The decision to postpone Croatia's membership talks with the EU has not halted the country's path towards the European bloc, as a negotiating framework has been adopted which clearly states that the goal of the negotiations is Croatia's admission to the EU, Sanader said.
He added that he expected a new date for the start for the entry talks to be set very soon. He said Croatia deserved the start of the negotiations just as Macedonia deserved to be granted candidate status for full EU membership.
Macedonia's Buckovski said he hoped Zagreb would be given a new date for the start of the entry talks until the end of June, which he said would help Macedonia's efforts to join the EU.
The two premiers called on businessmen to enhance economic cooperation on the basis of very good political relations between the two countries.
In this context, HGK president Nadan Vidosevic said that it was necessary for the two countries to further liberalise bilateral economic relations and improve traffic connections, particularly in air transport.
According to figures released by the HGK, last year the trade between the two countries totalled 191 million dollars. Macedonia's exports to Croatia climbed by 57 percent to 116.7 million, with Croatia's exports to Macedonia rising by 5.2 percent to 74.1 million dollars.