In the present world in which globalisation and growing economies are progressing at speed of light, success is ensured only by joint action, Milosevic said.

As the co-organiser of the conference, the Croatian government has been guided by the belief that the countries in the region can move forward together and transform this part of the world into a more desirable destination for foreign investment, he said.

Milosevic said that there were indications that this region would become an area of large-scale economic investment.

As for Croatia, U.S. business people's growing interest in Croatia is encouraging, he said, adding that this interest would be further increasing with Croatia's admission to the European Union.

The deputy prime minister also reiterated Croatia's commitment to strengthening the legal framework for investment and entrepreneurship, anti-corruption campaign, creation of a sound entrepreneurial climate and implementation of projects important to the entire region.

Addressing the conference, U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, James Foley, said that the region offered huge potential that had not been tapped yet.

Participants in the conference agreed that steps to this effect should be possible and easy, the diplomat said, calling for the reorganisation of the public administration to make it more accessible to entrepreneurs and investors.

Foley said that the goal would be to reach a level at which there would be no need for conferences of this kind as investments in the region would be carried out spontaneously.

He thanked all who helped to organise this event in Dubrovnik, which he described as an excellent exercise of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Croatia.