The event was held at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and its topic was "Croatia as part of the EU economy". It brought together more than 300 participants and was organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Croatian Embassy in Vienna and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The discussion focused on the continuation of investments and the improvement of Croatian-Austrian economic relations.
More than 70 Croatian business people, led by Economy Minister Radimir Cacic, took part in a round table and business talks with Austrian companies.
About 100 Austrian companies were led by the president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Christoph Leitl, and Agriculture Minister Nikolas Berlakovich.
Leitl said Austria would continue to support Croatia after it joined the EU and that Austrian-Croatian economic cooperation would be even better.
"We are looking forward to Croatia's upcoming accession to the EU. We have a common history, common interests, which are important pillars for advancing cooperation," Berlakovich said, advocating cooperation in the development of renewable energy sources, green technologies, water purification, and farming.
He said Austrians were willing to invest in Croatia but often encountered administrative hurdles in obtaining permits.
He was pleased that Austria was the biggest foreign direct investor in Croatia, with EUR 6.37 billion invested between 1993 and 2011.
About 950 Austrian companies are currently active in Croatia.
Cacic said the establishment of the Investment and Competition Agency would make things much easier for investors in Croatia and offer projects, for example in energy, infrastructure, renewables and tourism.
Cacic said Croatia and Austria should intensify economic cooperation and that possibilities for that existed.
He also held talks with Austrian Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner.
Speaking to the press, Cacic described the talks with the Austrian officials as good and Croatian Economy Day as useful and conducive to stronger economic cooperation.
"This is a new moment in economic cooperation because Croatia is about to join the EU. Therefore, it's important to define common strategies," he said.
So far, Austrian investors have mostly invested in the financial sector, telecommunications and trade, and very little in production, Cacic said, pushing for more greenfield projects in Croatia.
He said his talks with Mitterlehner focused on cooperation in energy, renewables, infrastructure and tourism.
Austrians are interested in investing in the development of renewables, notably biomass, and there is a lot of potential in nautical tourism, congress tourism, and golf projects.
Cacic said he and Mitterlehner also talks about reviving the Austrian-Croatian Economic Cooperation Commission, which has not convened for three years.
Austrian reporters remarked that Austrian investors complained about the investment climate in Croatia, to which Cacic replied that there were barriers on both sides, saying they should be removed and the market liberated.
"The administrative barriers should be removed, which means preparing a legal framework for investing in Croatia, dealing with legal relations, having clean property-rights relations, eliminating corruption," he said.