Self-sufficiency the goal as Bosnia targets global market
COMPARED TO THE COUNTRY'S SITUATION JUST FIVE YEARS AGO, BOSNIA IS NOW ENJOYING RELATIVE PROSPERITY, THANKS IN PART TO THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REBUILDING EFFORTS OF THE INTER- NATIONAL COMMUNITY. THE CHALLENGE NOW IS TO PREPARE FOR AN ERA OF DECLINING ASSISTANCE

WOLFGANG PETRITSCH High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina

The international community has played a fundamental role in helping Bosnia on both the political and economic fronts. The chief peace implementation figure is the High Representative, Austrian Wolfgang Petritsch, whose main duties are to coordinate the activities of international civilian organizations and agencies operating in the country. His original staff of 60 has expanded tenfold and they now have 19 offices.
Involvement in Bosnia and Herzegovina has correspondingly grown and its initial reconstruction phase covering roads, bridges, airports, telephone networks and utilities is largely complete. Institutional reform, refugee rehabilitation and the economy are key objectives, with education, human rights, unemployment and integration into Europe also high on the agenda. “For the first time in five years we have a non-nationalist government,” says Mr. Petritsch. The situation is currently relatively stable he feels self-reliance and independence are now required. “Local authorities need to take on more responsibility,” he says.

HELP IS AT HAND Minister of Finance and Public Credit: has delivered

The U.S. has also played a major role, providing training and consultancy services in banking and finance and advice on judicial reform. American investors are still shunning the private sector, though, and Mr. Petritsch thinks they should be encouraged by the recent Croatian and Slovenian investments in Bosnia. These will help create the unified single economic space needed for EU membership and are a positive step towards the Free Trade Agreement currently being discussed among various Balkan countries. Planned for 2002, the area would cover 60 million people. “I am quite confident that in the next couple of years we will see enormous progress,” he predicts.

MARIANN KURTZ General Manager of Southeast Europe Enterprise Development

The Southeast Europe Enterprise Development (SEED) is a multi-donor initiative managed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). The five-year old $33 million effort was launched in 2000 with the aim of boosting business in the western Balkans. Based in Sarajevo, it has regional offices in Banja Luka, Pristina, and Skopje, and its role is to identify, streamline and help provide capital for all companies that are competitive and sustainable in the Balkans’ new market economy, from small and medium-sized businesses to multinationals. It is also working alongside the World Bank, which is providing a government loan, to play an advocacy role in the private sector.

Compared to the highly restricted post war situation six years ago Bosnia has opened up. “The atmosphere is becoming more transparent,” says general manager Mariann Kurtz, though she regrets the country’s continuing over-reliance on imports and believes it has the local potential to become more self-sufficient. “My goal is to buy totally Bosnian products before I leave,” she says, and recommends that foreign investors contact SEED to get things moving. “We provide technical assistance and bring in international expertise, and we have a network of local staff who really know how to ‘navigate’.”

AZRA HADZIAHMETOVIC Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Azra Hadziahmetovic, believes the priority is to attract foreign investment, for which she is developing an action plan in cooperation with the World Bank. Her own three point solution lies in creating a single economic space for the whole BiH territory, a regional approach to southeast Europe and an adequate position in the international community, such as membership in the WTO.
The liberalizing 2002 Free Trade Zone aims to create a total market of 55 million people in non-political competitiveness. “This will bring people closer together and make boundaries a more relative idea,” says Ms. Hadziahmetovic. She has discussed global economic and poverty reduction strategies with the U.S. and envisages a combined U.S.-European trade world. “There are no more distant capitals or distant markets in today’s global economy,” she says.