President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who attended the event, said that since HOK's establishment 21 years ago "small business owners have demonstrated their adaptability to new business conditions and significantly contributed to employment and economic development."
She warned, however, that for some of them, the economic crisis and the taxes imposed by the state had been too difficult to withstand resulting in the closing down of a large number of small businesses and loss of jobs.
It is high time those negative trends were stopped, she said.
"Keep insisting on a stimulating legislative framework, on the removal of administrative barriers, a motivating taxation policy, and on a consistent implementation of legislation on payment deadlines. Seek more space for work, creation and employment - do not let your role in the economy and society in general, notably in vocational training - be ignored," she said among other things.
Addressing the event, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Branko Grcic said that after six years of crisis, Croatia was witnessing growth and recovery trends that were evident in all indicators, including those on small businesses.
He said that the government would continue dealing with problems, noting that "the (coming) parliamentary elections will not make the government passive in the next seven-eight months" and that it would continue working to enable further economic recovery.
HOK president Dragutin Ranogajec said that during the crisis, 20,000 small businesses had fallen through and 50,000 jobs had been lost.
This was mostly due to an unfavourable business environment, lack of legal security, high operating costs, red tape and a weak demand for domestic products and services, he said.