Vukelic said that Germany was Croatia's second most important trading partner and the second largest investor in the country. In this context he said that Croatia considered important Germany's support on its path to the European Union.
Last year's trade between Croatia and Germany amounted to USD3.68 billion, with German companies having invested 1.9 billion euros in Croatia from 1993 until the end of 2005. In the first half of 2006, trade reached USD1.6 billion, an increase of 8.9 per cent over the same period last year.
Vukelic said that Croatia Business Days, an event due to take place in Berlin at the beginning of November, would be an opportunity for the presentation of Croatia's business potential to the German business community and potential investors.
Glos said that Germany supported Croatia in its efforts to join the European union, adding that his talks today with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Minister Vukelic were an opportunity to further strengthen the present relations.
Glos said that Germany attached great importance to the development of the Western Balkans, in which he said Croatia should play an important role, and added that he believed that an agreement on the expansion of the Central Europe Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) would be signed by the year's end as had been announced.
Glos said that German companies were interested in getting involved in privatisation process in Croatia.