Cobankovic and Proell held the news conference within a two-day presentation of Austrian food-processing companies in Zagreb which began yesterday.
The promotion, which was organised by the Austrian Office for Foreign Trade, pooled representatives of some 70 Austrian companies and 110 Croatian companies.
The Vice Chairman of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Richard Schenz, told the conference that Austrian businessmen and political officials were always in favour of Croatia's entry into the European Union.
Schenz said that Austrian companies had realised that there was stability in Croatia and their investments in this country were constantly increasing. Since 1994, foreign investments in Croatia have come to 10.4 billion dollars, and Austria's share in those investments has been 26 percent , i.e. 2.7 billion dollars, he added.
Austrians have mostly invested in the financial sector, telecommunications, tourism, construction, the textile industry and environmental protection.
Last year, Croatia's exports to Austria amounted to 756.57 million dollars (a 57.8 percent rise in comparison to 2003), and Austria's exports rose by 20.1 percent to 1.13 billion dollars.