FIPA provided support to BOXMARK for further expansion and new investments
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The Director of the Foreign Investment Promotion
Agency (FIPA) Gordan Milinić has organized a meeting with the Director of
Boxmark Ltd Matej Bastič in order to try to solve the administrative problems
that this company faces on its way of expanding existing and realization of new
investments in BiH.
Boxmark Ltd, which represents an Austrian investment,
is engaged in the production of upholsteries that are exported to the EU and
beyond. It owns a factory in Lukavac that opened in February 2016 with the
employment of 200 workers in that period. In December 2017, the factory has 440
workers. Considering that they are planning to expand the existing factory and
build new halls and plants in order to increase the number of employees to at
least 1,100 workers, they also bought new land.
As a condition for further investment, Boxmark Ltd
requested the competent authorities in BiH to abolish tariffs on imports of
tanned and finished leather, for which it received support from the Government
of the Tuzla Canton, the chambers of commerce of BiH, FBiH and RS. The money
that the state would lose at customs would have been returned to the budget by
paying taxes and contributions for over 1,100 workers. It is expected the final
position of the competent authorities on this issue. If the answer was negative, further
investments and new employment would be stopped. There is also a fear that an
investor might leave BiH if this problem is not solved.
FIPA has intervened in the resolution of the
above-mentioned issue, especially considering the existing number of employees of
the company and the announced employment up to 1,100, and provided support to
BOXMARK for further expansion and new investments.
FIPA will do everything within its competence
to keep the investor in BiH.