WORK TOGETHER TO RESTORE THE TREND OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT GROWTH

Kubatlija considers that businessmen, and generally everyone, should be involved in promoting BiH as a good place to invest, so that there would again be a good inflow of foreign investments.

Interviewed by: Aleksandra GRUJIĆ SARAJEVO, JUNE 9 /SRNA/ - Foreign direct investments in BiH in the first nine months of last year amounted to 1.05 billion KM and were 24.6 percent lower than in the same period of 2024, which means that everyone must work to restore the trend of their growth, stated the Director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH , Marko Kubatlija, to SRNA. According to him, in 2024 and previous years, there was a trend of growth in foreign direct investments in BiH, which was felt in the market and reflected in the results. Kubatlija said in an interview with SRNA that the largest investors are neighboring countries – Serbia and Croatia, and stated that there are also Austria, Slovenia, as well as Great Britain and Albania. He pointed out that the top 15 countries invested 21.2 billion KM. "There is Croatia with 3.2 billion KM, Austria with 2.9 billion KM, Serbia with 2.8 billion KM, then comes Slovenia with 1.6 billion KM, and other countries," stated Kubatlija, adding that the most was invested in production - 30 percent, followed by banking and telecommunications. ENERGY SECTOR - A LURE FOR INVESTORS According to him, FIPA strives to promote all sectors, that is, to present potential investors with investment opportunities in other branches of the economy, such as the wood processing, automotive, and metal industries. He emphasized that investors are particularly interested in investing in the energy sector of BiH, and that a growth trend has been recorded there, specifically in green energy and energy efficiency, which will bring a much higher percentage of investment in the coming years. Speaking about the reasons for the decrease in foreign direct investments in BiH in the nine months of last year, Kubatlija stated that there are several, and one of the main ones is the geopolitical conflict that also affects BiH. "When looking at the prices of oil and petroleum products, gas, and some other parameters, a disruption in the global market is noticeable in every sense. There is the conflict in the Middle East, the rise in production prices in Asia, a problem all over the world," Kubatlija stated. He pointed out that all these problems are also felt in BiH, affecting the economy, investments, and the overall situation in the country. Kubatlija considers that businessmen, and generally everyone, should be involved in promoting BiH as a good place to invest, so that there would again be a good inflow of foreign investments. ADVANTAGES - QUALIFIED WORKFORCE AND 10 PERCENT PROFIT TAX When it comes to the problems faced by investors in BiH, Kubatlija said that they are not 100 percent resolved, and pointed out that FIPA is trying through initiatives to contribute to their quick resolution, but that everything is moving very slowly. According to him, the most common problems are of an administrative nature – complicated paperwork, debt collection, long court disputes, but there are also advantages such as a qualified workforce and a profit tax that is 10 percent. "We in the Agency are fighting to speed this up as much as possible, to digitize as many services as possible, so we can keep up with the times we live in and create the best and most efficient administration possible," emphasized the Director of FIPA, adding that it is a question of how ready local communities are for the challenges of this time. Kubatlija said that many local communities in BiH are struggling with this problem, trying to improve business operations and make things easier for investors, but there are also those who have not managed to solve the problem. He stated that the Agency is trying to attract as many investment cycles as possible to BiH, but that it cannot do this alone, without the support of certain ministries and institutions at the BiH level, especially the Council of Ministers. According to him, FIPA is an agency with a small budget, so it cannot keep up with all the things that are happening at the level of BiH or beyond the country's borders. "To attract foreign investors, we have to enter the market outside of BiH," pointed out Kubatlija, adding that the Agency promotes BiH and its potential at fairs and other business events around the world. GOAL - INVESTMENT STRATEGY Kubatlija believes that BiH has a lot of potential, that it is a rich country, and if institutions at the level of both Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH were involved in all this, the results would be much better. According to him, the fact that 80 percent of investors who have invested money in BiH in the past period return to reinvest shows that BiH is a good place to invest. Kubatlija said that the Agency's goal is to create an investment strategy and to facilitate business operations for foreign investors in BiH.