- BiH Investment Day held in Istanbul
The Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH
(FIPA), the General Consulate of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Istanbul and the
Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of BiH, in cooperation with the Istanbul
Chamber of Commerce, organized the "Bosnia and Herzegovina Investment
Day" in Istanbul on June 17th.
The organization of the events was initiated by
the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and FIPA with the aim to introduce interested
Turkish companies with the investment opportunities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the previous period, frequent visits by
business delegations from Turkey to BiH were organized, but not always with
serious intentions to invest.
The aim of this event was to present the
profitable opportunities of BiH for Istanbul’s companies that have serious
intentions to expand their business outside of Turkey. The Chamber of Commerce
of Istanbul ITO and FIPA, with partner institutions, worked for several months
on the preparation of the event, adequate agenda and selection of investment
projects and companies.
The event was opened by Mr Šekib Avdagić,
President of ITO. He highlighted the excellent cultural and political relations
between Turkey and BiH, and the fact that investment relations are not at the
level that is potentially possible and expected.
The Ambassador of BiH to Ankara Bakir Sadović
emphasized the readiness and the will of the Embassy and Consulate, and all
institutions in BiH to serve Turkish investors.
The FIPA Director Gordan Milinić, as the main
organizer, pointed out the basic services that FIPA provides to investors,
organization of meetings, finding investment locations and the support it
provides in the post-investing phase or during the reinvestment process.
FIPA representative Nina Pobrić presented the
basic advantages of BiH for investing, as well as attractive sectors and
projects.
The profit tax rate for companies in BiH is
10%, and in Turkey it is 22%. BiH provides easier transport of products to the
EU market, for what Turkish investors are interested by using the free trade
regime for the region and the EU. It was presented an overview of other
operational costs, the structure of the workforce and education system, and the
legislative and reform processes that are being implemented in BiH.
Muzafer Cilek, Honorary Consul of BiH in Bursa,
owner of the company Cilek, the largest manufacturer of children's furniture, then
Yusuf Dilaver, CEO of Turkish Ziraat BH, and Murat Unganer, co-owner of the
Bjelašnica White Apartments Project, also presented their experiences with
business in BiH. All businessmen pointed out that they are satisfied with the
business results in BiH, that Turkish investments should be higher in the
coming period and that business procedures are relatively complicated, but not
more than in all other countries of the world.
Mr Cilek operates in more than 90 countries and
believes that BiH is no longer more complicated than others, but it is
necessary to work on transparency and access to clients.
The Deputy Chairman of the Federation Chamber
of Commerce Mirsad Jašarspahić presented the work of the services of the
Chamber and the support they provide to the companies.
Mr Šekib Avdagić and Turkish businessmen have
concluded that there are all prerequisites for Turkey to be, not 11, but among
the top five investor countries and that it should continue to organize similar
events in Turkey.
In addition, representatives of the Ministry of
Trade of Turkey have promised assistance and support to Turkish investors who
want to invest in BiH, which will contribute to increase Turkish investments in
BiH.
After the plenary session B2B meetings were
held between companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey related to trade
and investments. Turkish companies have shown interest in projects from BiH and
have agreed on the first visits to BiH.
The present Turkish companies operate in the
metal-processing sector, the automotive manufacturing sector, food production,
furniture, chemical industry, tourism, and textile industry.
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce is one of the
largest chambers of commerce in the world, with a registered membership of
450,000 companies.