Croatian and Italian officials spoke about the operation of their respective chambers and their role in the development of trade relations between Croatian and Italian entrepreneurs.
The two chambers signed an agreement on cooperation.
The vice-president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Augusto Strianese, stressed the importance of this institution for the survival of small companies, without which he said they would not be able to access foreign markets.
The vice-president of the Croatian Chamber of the Economy, Vesna Trnokop Tanta, said Italy was Croatia's leading foreign trade partner, but that that cooperation was not appropriately accompanied by Italian investments.
According to the Croatian Chamber of the Economy, Italy has been the leading buyer of Croatian products, accounting for 22 percent of all Croatian exports, and for 16 percent of all imports, which makes it again Croatia's leading trade partner.
Croatia's exports to Italy in 2004 amounted to USD 1.8 billion, an increase of 11.1 percent in relation to the year before, while imports amounted to 2.8 billion, a 9.2 percent increase.
Italian investments in Croatia from 1993 to the end of 2004 amounted to around USD 635 million, which places Italy fifth on the list of foreign investors in Croatia, accounting for 5.94 percent of foreign direct investments.
Italian companies have mainly invested in Croatia's banking sector (51 percent), gas production and distribution (11 percent), wood-processing industry (8 percent), commercial sector (6 percent) and construction (5 percent).