Vukelic acquainted Kalvitis with the government's priorities, notably foreign direct investment and faster privatisation, and underlined the government's commitment to make Croatia join the European Union.
The two officials discussed bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding, restructuring and privatisation in the Croatian economy, with special emphasis on the advantages Croatia offers potential foreign investors.
Vukelic said Croatia was interested in increasing Latvian investment in Croatia. Kalvitis said Latvian entrepreneurs were interested in shipbuilding, iron manufacturing and the energy sector in Croatia.
Croatian-Latvian trade in 2004 was a mere US$4.6 million, the largest turnover in the past 10 years. Croatian exports there were $3.2 million, while imports from Latvia were $1.5 million. Croatia's major exports to Latvia are medicines and food, while it imports veneer.