BANJA LUKA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), February 26 (SeeNews) – The EBRD said on Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bosnia and Herzegovina to step up the pace of economic reform in the country, paving the way for more robust economic growth.
The MoU was signed by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mirko Sarovic, and the EBRD’s vice president for Policy and Partnerships, Pierre Heilbronn, at the Western Balkans Investment Summit in London, the bank said in a statement.
Under the new MoU, the EBRD will support a range of initiatives to improve Bosnia and Herzegovina’s attractiveness to investors and help re-energise the country's economic transition.
Elsewhere in the Western Balkans, the EBRD has signed similar accords with Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia aimed at improving the investment climate, strengthening economic governance and boosting private sector development.
"This is a very important step that we are taking together. It is only by keeping up the pace and intensity of reform that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be able to achieve the sustainable economic growth that the country needs to raise the quality of life for its people", Heilbronn said in the statement.
Under the Investment Climate and Governance Initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EBRD will aim to improve the legal environment, helping to strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms, improve public procurement practices, tackle informality and enhance transparency in the public and corporate sectors.
The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have expressed their commitment to improvements in the investment climate and to governance reform through the adoption of the reform agenda which sets out the country’s plans for reform over the coming years. They have asked specifically for the EBRD’s support in achieving this ambition.
One key element in the EBRD’s contribution to this joint programme, it said, is its support to the authorities in the creation of an Investment Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing a platform for dialogue between the private and public sectors with the ultimate aim of leveraging the private sector’s experience in successfully driving forward policy reform.