The Forum was organised by the Milan Chamber of Commerce, the Lombardy Region and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Agency for the Promotion of Export and Investments, and Croatian businessmen took part in the Forum which assembled more than 1400 participants from many Mediterranean countries. During the opening ceremony Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi addressed the participants of the Forum.

During the closing panel moderated by Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini, State Secretary Andrej Plenković gave a talk on the Mediterranean orientation of the Republic of Croatia. Stressing the importance of the Union for the Mediterranean, which on that day marked the second anniversary of the founding summit meeting in Paris, he reminded of the complete inclusion of all Adriatic countries in broader frameworks of institutional cooperation in the Mediterranean. He spoke of Croatian priorities within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean, in particular in the fields of political dialogue, economic relations, cultural and scientific cooperation, civil society, and projects related to maritime traffic, environmental protection, and renewable energy sources. He stressed the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises for the total economic cooperation in the Mediterranean.

State Secretary Plenković also reminded of the 10th anniversary of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative which enabled the closer cooperation between the member countries.

He also spoke of Croatian ambitions to complete the negotiations with the EU in the following months and to sign the Accession Treaty with the European Union during the Hungarian presidency in the first half of the next year.

In his conclusion he expressed his satisfaction over the accomplishments of the Union for the Mediterranean and his hope that the summit meeting that will be held in Barcelona this autumn, will provide a new incentive for the realisation of concrete projects.

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