The session pooled Croatian business people and representatives of the Turkish-Croatian Business Council and Turkish economic institutions.
Addressing the event, the Turkish Ambassador to Zagreb, Fatma Dicle Kopuz, said this was the first meeting of this kind intended for concrete research of potentials of bilateral economic cooperation.
Emphasising that Turkey unites Europe and Asia, the ambassador said that Gross Domestic Product per capita in her country was 3,400 dollars, with the GDP growth rate of about eight percent. The current unemployment rate in Turkey is 10.5 percent with a 25-percent inflation rate.
The HGK Zagreb branch's head, Zlatan Froelich said that the fact that the trade between Turkey and Croatia had accounted for only about 1.5 per mille of Turkey's entire foreign trade in 2004 which totalled some 160 billion US dollars, indicated that there was great space for the improvement in the bilateral exchange of goods.
In 2004, Croatia exported goods worth 72.2 million dollars with the import from that country totalling 160 million dollars.
Croatian businessman were today acquainted with basic macroeconomic, legislative and tax frameworks in Turkey and its relations with the European Union in light of the fact that Ankara is to start accession negotiations with the EU this October.