Addressing reporters, Foley said that the conference discussed the business potential of Southeast Europe which he said offered great business opportunities, and obstacles encountered by investors.
One of the conclusions is that Southeast Europe is insufficiently competitive compared to other regions, said Foley, adding that this could be changed by improving the business climate.
Speakers at the forum were agreed that individual countries in the region were too weak in terms of their economy and too small in terms of their population to be attractive to investors, but that the region as a whole, with a population of 22 million, offered big opportunities to all.
Ambassador Foley said an action plan would be adopted at the end of the forum outlining measures for encouraging business and economic growth in S-E Europe. The document will contain proposals to the regional governments outlining what should be done to make the region start to flourish economically.
The document covers a wide range of business moves, but its two main dimensions are overcoming bureaucratic obstacles and fighting corruption by building an efficient judiciary, said Foley.
Predictability, transparency and speed are the key words used in today's discussions, Foley said, adding that this meant that investors did not want unpleasant surprises, that business procedures and taxation had to be transparent, and that starting a business had to be much faster.
Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Domagoj Milosevic, who is in charge of investment, underlined the importance of dialogue between the business community and political officials in the countries in the region, reiterating most of Foley's positions.
Asked if there were any concrete deals at the forum, considering reports that Microsoft would build a plant in Montenegro or that General Electric was interested in some of the Croatian government's big investment projects, Milosevic would not give a specific answer, saying that negotiations were under way.
The president of the Croatian Employers' Association, Davor Majetic, said that talks on business like the ones in Dubrovnik were possibly the only good thing brought by the economic crisis.
He said it was good that politicians were starting to realise what the problem was and to accept their share of responsibility, adding that employers would help them in all steps that needed to be taken to relax the general business climate.
Majetic said he expected business people from Croatia and the rest of the region to learn much from their contacts with business people from the world's most competitive market, that of the United States, primarily with regard to personnel training.
Boris Cota, President Ivo Josipovic's advisor on the economy, said the countries in the region had to find a way to cooperate in order to make their economies stronger. He noted that the business climate in the region was poor and that one should work to improve it.
Croatia needs to step up reforms defined in the government's plan for economic recovery and the role of the state in the economy must be reduced in the entire region, he said.
The first day of the Dubrovnik forum was to end with the presentation of awards to Croatian students who had won a competition sponsored by the US Embassy in which they were expected to present their own business plan or recommendations for the improvement of economic policies.
The conference in Dubrovnik was organised in tribute to US Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, who was heading a US trade mission in the region 15 years ago when their plane crashed near Dubrovnik killing all people aboard.