President Josipovic invited Polish investors attending the forum at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) to invest in Croatia, admitting that "Croatia was not the best at handling investments and that our business mentality is not as developed as it should perhaps be", however the poor investment climate was slowly changing for the better and he hoped that new legislation being proposed by the government would stimulate investors.

In addition to traditional sectors, such as the food and wood processing industries, Polish investors can find good investment prospects in tourism, particularly if we consider that half a million Poles visit Croatia each year, President Josipovic said.

Presenting his country Polish President Komorowski underscored that the secret of Poland's success over 20 years of transition was foreign direct investments which attracted over EUR 160 billion to that country in that period.

Transition began in Poland with "complete bankruptcy of a Socialist economy" and the new economic model was built on the foundations of foreign investments and with Poland's accession to the EU, Poland effectively and efficiently drew from EU funds which too included foreign companies.

All that helped Poland to be in a position to record economic growth even during a time of crisis in the world economy and in 20 years Poland has increased its exports from EUR 60 billion to over EUR 150 billion each year and has become one of the three most attractive countries in the world for investments and production, Komorowski said.

That though requires a lot of work and effort, President Komorowski said, adding that Poland today has the greatest number of hours worked in Europe, surpassing even the Germans.

During the forum an agreement of understanding was signed by the Croatian Investment and Competition Agency and the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. The forum provides an opportunity for individual talks between Croatian and Polish companies.

The Polish trade mission consists of representatives of several large Polish companies such as the PZU insurance giant which has already expressed interest in participating in the privatisation of Croatia's insurance company, Croatia Osiguranje. Several other CEO's are also in Croatia as part of the trade mission including Solaris Bus & Coach, Asseco IT, Globe Trade Center and others.

Statistical data illustrates the potential to expand economic cooperation between the two countries. In 2012 Croatia exports to Poland amounted to barely EUR 98.3 million (down 4.8% y-on-y), while imports from Poland amounted to EUR 336.2 million (a fall of 0.8%).

In Q1 2013 around EUR 25.5 million worth of goods was exported to Poland (2.1% lower y-on-y) and imports amounted to EUR 79.4 million, (an upturn of 3.5%).