On 12 September 2017 in Sarajevo the Report was presented on aftercare activities of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina – FIPA BiH for 2017.
FIPA has been
implementing the Aftercare Programme from 2007, and since 2013, within the
framework of the Programme, the Cooperative Network has been established as the
mechanism for cooperation between institutions at all the levels of government
in BiH that are contributing to faster overcoming of obstacles in the course of
realization of investment projects, and are, in that manner, actively
contributing to improvements in the business environment within the framework
of their competencies. Taking into account that the activities of the
Cooperative Network are focused on the resolution of administrative challenges
that the investors are facing, the Agency is, together with the representatives
of units of local self-governance, entity, and state institutions, members of
the Network, visiting investors active in BiH and performing structured
discussions with them with the objective of collecting information and
identification of administrative barriers for investment. Information collected
in the field are being analysed by FIPA BIH and then delegated to state,
entity, and local authorities for deliberation, and their resolution is
proposed in recommendations.
The
Cooperative Network today has 40 members, and since 2013 to 2017, 159 companies
have been visited through the network.
In total, over
150 open issues have been identified. A large number of these issues are solved
by the active commitment and participation of institutions. For 12 companies,
it is currently working to resolve open issues. 204 reform measures were passed
out of which 20 were fully implemented, 25 partially, 45 are in procedure, and activities
were not yet started for 10 obstacles.
According to
the presented report for 2017 adopted by the BiH Council of Ministers, the
Agency has, independently, or within the framework of the Cooperative Network,
performed 50 visits to investors that have, thus far, invested BAM 836,5 million
or EUR 427.7 million and employed 5,457 Bosnian and Herzegovinian workers, of
which 4,114 newly employed. The Analysis of results has shown that 78,3%
companies were interested in expansion and improvement of their operations, while
84,8% companies plan to increase employment in the next three years and 1,795
new workers. That is the very reason why it is of key significance that all the
levels of government in BiH recognize the significance of activities that are
being implemented through the Cooperative Network, and get involved in its work
and provide maximum support in the resolution of the open issues that stand in
the way of realization of those investment plans.
The
International Finance Corporation IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is, in
cooperation with the Embassy of United Kingdom, and through the Project for
attracting investments and improvement of business environment at the local
level “LIFE” and Project for Improvement of Business Climate and Access to
Markets “ICAM”, supporting the work and providing technical support to the
Investors’ Aftercare Programme in BiH and realization of activities of the
Cooperative Network in BiH.