Bosnia and Herzegovina is again included on the global map of entrepreneurship through the new GEM report for 2024/25. year. According to the research, our country is the first in Europe in terms of the number of businesses started in the last three years, despite the fact that the business environment in BiH is the worst rated of all the countries in the research.
On the occasion of this report, the LINK entrepreneurial center held a round table in Mostar on Monday on the topic “From potential to results: Recommendations for an entrepreneurial turnaround”.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) represents the world’s largest survey of entrepreneurial activities, attitudes and conditions, covering more than 60 countries for more than two decades. This year’s report is based on a survey of 2,000 citizens and 36 national experts, and for the first time offers a detailed comparison of BiH with countries in the region and the European Union of similar size and socioeconomic profile.
– After more than 14 years, thanks to the efforts of LINK and partner organizations and municipalities, we managed to return BiH to the global GEM map. It is the largest academic study of entrepreneurship for more than 60 countries in the world, and we are honored to be the bearers of this important report for Bosnia and Herzegovina – said the director of LINK, Alisa Gekić.
She said that the results show that there is entrepreneurial potential in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it remains underutilized due to the lack of coordinated and effective support policies.
– One of the indicators is that among the surveys we have 23 percent of respondents who have started a business in the last three years. What is interesting is that BiH has the most “early” entrepreneurs in Europe. This is a positive result, given that we have difficulties and problems in the overall business of small and medium-sized enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is an indicator that BiH can be a leader in something. On the other hand, when we talk about business conditions, we are at the bottom of the scale, and the result is the lack of systematic support programs – stressed Gekić, calling on government institutions and international actors to support the survival of GEM research in BiH, “so that we can create policies that are comparable on a global level and thus enable the comparison and development of BiH.”
Macroeconomics professor Vjekoslav Domljan assessed that BiH, when it comes to short-term indicators, is the “European champion” in entrepreneurship.
– The key indicator of the GEM report is the number of people involved in entrepreneurship in a period of three and a half years, and according to that BiH is the first in Europe, and it is the most important indicator that GEM uses when evaluating the state of entrepreneurship. According to some other indicators, e.g. export of early entrepreneurs BiH is the world champion for 2024. However, the number of “mature” entrepreneurs is below the European and global average – says Professor Domljan.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina is poorly transforming young entrepreneurs into mature entrepreneurs, even though the latter are key to a stable economy and job creation. According to him, the entrepreneurial environment in BiH is the worst among the 51 analyzed countries, but the responsibility is not only on the state.
– Entrepreneurs complain less about the state than their colleagues in developed economies. The state is responsible for five of the 13 indicators, but poor education, lack of entrepreneurial education, social environment and limited access to capital also contribute to BiH’s poor result – concluded Domljan.
