Members of the Collaborative Network for Support to Foreign Investors in BiH met on December 4, 2018 in Goražde to discuss the results of work on support to foreign investors realized in 2018 and the plans for the next year.

On behalf of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH (FIPA) Gordan Milinić emphasized the importance of cooperation of all competent institutions in support of foreign investors in BiH in a situation where every new job is valuable and in a situation when we have a high percentage of the unemployed. It was also emphasized that it is necessary to ensure the joint action of the competent institutions, and a coordinated approach to attracting foreign investments in order to significantly increase foreign capital in BiH.

Among other things, Mr Milinić also talked about the inflow of foreign investments in 2017 when 777 million BAM of foreign investments were recorded, which represents an increase of 37.9% compared to 2016. The trend of growth of investments continued in 2018, so for the first six months of this year, we recorded 452.5 million BAM. He emphasized the need for joint efforts to create a friendly business environment for both domestic and foreign investors.

The Collaborative Network is a link between the demands of the economy and the representatives of the governments with the aim to create a more stimulating business environment, increase employment, and the overall economic development of the country.

The Mayor of Goražde Muhamed Ramović, spoke on this occasion about the successful economic development of Goražde, about invested efforts in the creation of a favourable business environment that attracted significant investments in this city, such as Emka Bosnia, Bekto Precisa, Prevent, and others, which employ a large number of workers.

He expressed the readiness of the city administration to provide maximum support to all businessmen in Goražde at all times and to actively participate in the work of the Collaborative Network for the benefit of BiH.

After the meeting, a visit to the company Prevent Goražde was organized.

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.

The Collaborative Network is created with the support of International Finance Corporation IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.