 WHY IT IS WORTH INVESTING IN BOSNIA |
The evocation of Bosnia usually triggers associations of tragic war sufferings rather than bringing to mind thoughts of potential business opportunities. Horrific ethnic conflicts in the early nineties caused 200,000 deaths, two million refugees and, devastated the Bosnian economy. At the end of the war one could barely assess the total damage precisely, and different estimations ranged from dozens to hundreds of billions of dollars in direct damages and lost profits. Six years have now passed since the end of the war and most economic indicators are still grim. However, a thorough and in-depth observation of the current economic situation of Bosnia and Herzegovina demonstrates that this country has significantly recovered and that it has even achieved in various areas major reforms and has registered comparative advantages regarding other transitional countries in Eastern Europe.
As the Prime Minister Mr. Alija Behmen says, "In Bosnia and Herzegovina things are getting radically better, especially regarding some processes that have been made. These processes can be mainly developed in two directions: making state institutions stronger in all segments where it's necessary and the return of refugees to their homes. Believe me, Bosnia and Herzegovina is in transition like many countries in the Southeast and Central Europe. The war that happened here slowed us down in these processes because Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state was, by GDP, far above other countries. The war devastated many assets, this especially refers to economy resources, then 1.5 million of people left their homes and all that should come back to a normal level. Help from the International Community was really abundant, especially in reconstruction of the infrastructure. In such circumstances we rebuild the economy and at the same time we are in a transition period."
see graphic |
see graphic
see graphic
see graphic
see graphic
see graphic
Bosnia today is certainly not the country that made the headlines of CNN in the mid-nineties. With huge international donations devoted to reconstruction of its infrastructure, this country slowly but surely returns to the path of entrepreneurship and free-market economy. There are some really impressive developments already achieved, though there are some serious shortcomings still to be carried out. |
