At the World Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), which is being held in Dubai from 8 to 10 April, with more than 20,000 people from the world business participating this year, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH (FIPA) has been declared the best Agency for Attracting Foreign Investments for Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, Al Shiddi Trading was named the best investor with his Swissotel Project in Sarajevo.

The event is held under the auspices of HE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The awards were received by Gordan Milinić and Abdullah Mohammed Al Shiddi, and the Ambassador of BiH to the United Arab Emirates Šerif Mujkanović was also present at the ceremony.

At a special ceremony, AIM Investment Awards were awarded to selected Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) from every region of the world as recognition for their excellent work in successfully attracting significant and useful direct foreign investment projects in 2018, and contributing to economic growth and market development.

As a criteria for selecting the best IPAs and investment projects, a commission of 9 international experts was established, who evaluated each of the nominated projects that were short-listed, using criteria such as: size of investment, effects of investments on economic development, knowledge transfer, investor service process, sustainability and links with the local community and the economy, and the impact of digitization on attracting foreign direct investments.

Representatives of institutions and companies from 150 countries of the world from different sectors such as food production, metal processing, energy, tourism, real estate, finance, construction, information technology, pharmacy, participate in this event, including representatives of IPAs from around the world who participate there in order to establish new contacts and to exchange experiences related to foreign investment policies, to improve competitiveness, promotion strategies, incentives for foreign investors.