FIPA Activities

Increasing interest of foreign investors in ICT sector of BiH

11/6/2017

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The Director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH (FIPA) Gordan Milinić participated at the 14th Vienna Economic Forum, which took place on 6 November 2017 in Vienna.

In the framework of the session entitled "We live in a digital time! Visions and Investor's Responsibilities" the director Milinić spoke about the development of the software industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the growing interest of foreign investors in the ICT sector of BiH. It is about an activity for which there is the highest demand in the world market and has a trend of long-term continuous growth.

According to the preliminary analysis of the Bit Alliance association which gathers BH software companies, the annual revenue per software engineer is between 80,000 and 120,000 BAM. By educating 1,000 new software engineers, BiH could earn, primarily from exports, more than 90 million BAM per year. According to estimations, there are currently between 2,500 and 3,500 software engineers in BiH.

The Director Milinić emphasized that the ICT sector is recognized as a horizontal industry that has the strength to use its technology solutions to strengthen the competitiveness of all other sectors and thus lead to greater economic growth. He also conducted a series of talks with the representatives of the present companies and invited them to take advantage of the opportunities for profitable business that BiH offers to foreign investors.

The Forum was attended by prime ministers, vice -premiers and ministers of the economies and development of most of the countries of South-eastern Europe and representatives of large European companies, including Telekom Austria Group, Microsoft Austria, BouygueS Europe SA Belgium, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Austria, Verbund AG, Sopharma PLC Bulgaria, DG CONNECT, Jackovich International LLC, AME International GmbH Austria, LANSKY GANZGER + partner Austria, Flughafen Wien AG Austria, DenizBank Financial Services Group, Raiffeisen Bank International AG etc.

Mr. Milinić attended the Forum as a member of the Committee of Presidents of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agencies - member of the Vienna Economic Forum (VEF) and as a member of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

 

 

Testimonials & Success Stories
 

Global Investment Promotion Best Practices 2012 of the World Bank has cited one example of support that FIPA provides to foreign investors who are running business in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to contribute to increase the flow of foreign capital in the country.

The article said:  

„The Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina was an early convert to the idea of providing facilitation services to agribusiness investors as a way to maximize the positive impact of agriculture on the economy.

In 2007, for example, FIPA assisted a Dutch food processing company establish a US$1.6 million production facility to process unused milk ingredients into value-added products in Sarajevo to sell to markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

As part of its aftercare program, FIPA assisted the company with its expansion plans. Among other things, the agency helped facilitate veterinary permissions, navigate various bureaucratic hurdles and played an important role in securing funding for the company’s expansion. It also helped develop a network of local suppliers and customers. As a result of these efforts, the Dutch investor developed stronger links with the Bosnian economy, thus increasing the positive spillover effects on the local economy.

Currently a new investment to establish a drying facility for milk powder is under way. This will further expand the processing facilities of unused milk ingredients. This additional planned investment is worth approximately US$2.8 million, thus nearly trebling the company’s original investment in the country“.

 

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