The conference was organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Finnish Embassy with the support of the Croatian hockey club KHL Medvescak Zagreb and Finland's Jokerit Helsinki, who have come to Zagreb for the first time to play a match against Medvescak.
Hockey can connect businesses and I believe that after the first meeting of Finnish and Croatian business people in Zagreb, the cooperation will be deepened and strengthened during our visit to Finland in January, the HGK Vice-President for International Relations, Domagoj Juricic, said in his opening remarks, according to a statement issued by the HGK.
Every successful hockey team is accompanied by a number of successful entrepreneurs who give their contribution to the community by supporting the team, and that's why we have decided to take advantage of the first match between a Finnish and a Croatian hockey team for business talks with Croatian entrepreneurs. I believe this won't be the last time that hockey connects businesses and it's up to businesses to take this opportunity and score as many goals as possible businesswise, Finnish Ambassador Timo Rajakangas said, noting that hockey is the most popular sport in Finland.
Croatia and Finland have been cooperating well in shipbuilding for years and there are opportunities for cooperation in forestry, energy and particularly in ICT, said Svjetlana Momcilovic of the HGK Department for International Relations. She said that modern infrastructure, excellent transport connections, a highly-skilled work force and a stimulating investment environment were just some of the reasons why to choose Croatia as an investment and business destination.
Although the economic relations between the two countries are marked by a disproportion in trade, their friendly relations are a good platform for improving their economic cooperation, Momcilovic said.
More than 40 entrepreneurs from the two countries attended the conference. The Finnish company Lindstrom presented its experience of doing business in Croatia. After the conference, the participants went together to watch the Medvescak-Jokerit game.
Trade between Finland and Croatia amounted to 51.4 million euros in 2013, which accounted for only 0.21% of Croatia's foreign trade. Croatia exported 15.9 million euros worth of goods to Finland and imported 35.4 million euros. There has been a marked increase in the number of Finnish tourists visiting Croatia in the last two years.