Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemrak, attended the conference “Improvement of Business Environment and Foreign Trade” in Sarajevo today. The conference was organized by the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber.
Speaking at the conference a day after the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina came into force, Ambassador Wigemark said:
“The Stabilisation and Association Agreement may be a high level international agreement, but its implementation will bring real benefits to citizens in BiH. It means better quality, healthier and safer goods. It means ever more laws in line with EU standards. It will therefore also increase the confidence of domestic and international investors. In addition, it will allow BiH companies to better access the EU’s internal market of some 500 million consumers, provide your services across the EU and compete for public contracts. Overall, it will contribute to increased job opportunities.
“Business is what drives growth; growth generates employment, and employment in turn generates revenues for the country as well as providing the economic foundation for individual citizens. This is why improving the business environment, a subject the European Union together with our partners have been highlighting in the past year, has a direct impact on the functionality of the country as well as on the socio-economic situation of ordinary citizens.”
All exporting and importing companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina are obliged by law to be members of the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber if they are registered for performing of international trade related activities. These include banks, insurance companies and economic legal entities in the field of traffic (road transport, railway transport, air transport, tourist agencies’ activities, tour operators, postal activities, telecommunication and other supporting activities, and agencies involved in traffic activities), construction companies as well as the other members of the Chamber registered for performing of international activities on the territory of BiH.
Currently the Chamber counts about 14,000 members.
