U.S. internet giant Google will start doing business in Croatia and is putting together a local team, Croatian media reported on Friday.

The decision was prompted by the opportunities the company is seeing in Croatia and across the region on both the retail and business segments, Poslovni Dnevnik reported, quoting Hrabren Suknaic, the Google manager for the Adriatic region.

"There is great demand for Google products among local users and we want to offer valuable and innovative applications in their local language," Suknaic said in the Poslovni article.

Google can teach Croatian companies and their counterparts across the region how to profit from online advertising, the company executive was further quoted.

There are already 15 localised Google products on the Croatian market, including AdWords and AdSense.

In April, Poslovni reported that the Croatian National Tourist Board had awarded Google a 5.1 million Kuna (£602,983) advertising deal.