The conference was organised by UN agencies in Croatia, in cooperation with the embassies of Canada and Australia, on the occasion of International Women's Day.
Josipovic said the experience of some women, including former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, who was in attendance, showed that there was no position in society, from culture through the economy to politics, in which women could not be as successful as men.
He said the position of women entrepreneurs in rural areas was further complicated by the fact that they were often members of national minorities. Mentioning Plitvice Lakes National Park, he said women there could drive development by linking the economy, culture and the rural tradition.
Opening a round table, the permanent representative of the UN Development Programme in Croatia, Louisa Vinton, said the conference was organised to bring about changes for women entrepreneurs, who she said often had quality product but faced the challenge of finding a market. She said that in an area visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists a year, there should be no obstacles to that.