The Director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH (FIPA) Gordan Milinić received the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to BiH H.E. Mahmoud Heidari to discuss possibilities for cooperation on increasing Iranian investments in BiH, linking Iranian investors with projects holders in BiH, and linking businessmen from both countries to boost exports.

Mr Milinić informed the Ambassador Heidari that there are no Iranian investments in BiH, and that after the abolition of sanctions, coming of the first investors from Iran is expected, considering that BiH offers great opportunities for foreign investments, and that BiH counts on investments from this friendly country. Economic relations are at a low level and they do not follow good political and cultural relations.

The Ambassador was informed about the sectors that could be of interest to Iranian investors, the status of foreign investors in BiH, the currently available base of investment projects that has more than 200 projects, and the willingness and availability of FIPA to work with investors in order to present them conditions for investing and implementation projects.

Speaking about the interest of BiH’s businesspeople for cooperation with Iran, the Director Milinić mentioned the meeting that was held in FIPA with the representatives of Global Ispat Koksna Industrija d.o.o. Lukavac (GIKIL), as well as the competent Minister of Energy of Tuzla Canton, who expressed their desire to re-establish cooperation with the Iranian companies with whom they cooperated in the period before sanctions.

The Ambassador Heidari stressed his readiness to work with FIPA to connect businessmen of the two countries, stating the visa regime of BiH that slows down the process of connecting businessmen. He also pointed out that there is no enough information about Bosnia and Herzegovina in Iran, and in this regard, it is proposed activities that will contribute in the near future to spread information about BiH in this imposing market.

It was proposed to sign a MoU for stronger cooperation of competent institutions in the field of foreign investments, and it was emphasized the need for greater participation of the BiH representatives at economic events which are being held in Iran to promote the country.