The conference “Attracting and retaining investment in B&H: Necessary Regulatory Changes” was held on 12th June in Sarajevo, organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank (WB), under the Project to Improve Business Environment in B&H.
The aim of the conference is to improve the regulatory and institutional framework for investors, and to strengthen the capacity of the Government to attract investment.
Conference was opened by Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of B&H Mirko Sarovic who pointed out that a stable society, along with business climate, is the base for attracting investment.
According to him, the past five years in B&H was marked by a constant decline of direct foreign investment.
Bosnia and Herzegovina should make further efforts to build a legal framework relating the improvement business environment as well as efforts toward building a more stable general environment in order to halt this trend.
IFC's regional expert for investment policies for the region of Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Ivan Nimac, while commenting on the investment climate, said that the largest influx of direct foreign investments in B&H was based on the resources, or more precisely the market, and not on the basis of efficiency and business environment.
He pointed out that B&H in comparison with other countries of South-eastern Europe has a lower success in attracting global foreign investment, and the main reason for this are the complex business environment with administrative and regulatory barriers and costs for investors.
The Director of the B&H Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) Jelica Grujic pointed out that in 2011, around 612 million KM were invested in B&H, which makes increase of investments compared with the year before. She also mentioned announced investments in the power plant Ugljevik, Bauhaus and a series of small and medium-sized projects in different sectors.