Director of the Corporation of Development in Dubai from the United Arab Emirates, Esref Mahate announced in an interview for “Dnevni Avaz” that the arrival of large companies to this country is possible. He believes that they’ll want to open a factory in BiH in the pharmaceutical industry.
- Do you think there will be a significant investment from Dubai in the near future?
As we speak, our company is in a meeting with potential partners in BiH. During the past two days we have visited the local chambers of commerce in order to see how the situation in BiH is. We have a company from Dubai, which is very interested to build a pharmaceutical factory in BiH. That company is “SA Group”, which already has a factory in Macedonia and wants to expand their business. BiH has a lot to offer, you have educated and skilled young people and have access to a large market. Right now it’s too early to talk about the value of this investment. The most important thing is that, if they come to your market, then they will show everyone else that it pays off to do business in BiH, which will encourage others to follow their example.
- What is the main task of the Corporation of Development in Dubai and why did you come to Bosnia and Herzegovina?
We help small, medium and large companies from Dubai to succeed in foreign markets. We are engaged in supporting investment from Dubai to the whole world. For us, this trip is very important, primarily because of the fact that BiH is the entry point to the huge European market. What is more important is that the individual countries of the region are already EU members or have submitted an application for the membership, like BiH. Therefore, we are very eager to take the opportunity to get to your market now, because it will be a great way for us to get to the EU market. We believe that BiH is strategically very well positioned.
- What are in your opinion the current relations between BiH and Dubai?
At this moment trade between our countries is not great, but we must bear in mind that all big things start from small things. BiH is a market that companies from Dubai have not explored yet, but this is the first step towards that. Also, BiH must work on business conditions, as well as the infrastructure and the export policy. Exporting your products to Dubai will give you access to the huge market of our region, and not only the market in Dubai.
- How do you assess the potential of BiH?
It is difficult to assess it, because this is our first visit, but our companies are very interested, and I think your country is very promising. Now we have to do a more detailed research about the possibility of doing business in BiH, in order to take advantage of this opportunity. All we have seen is encouraging our businessmen to do business here. Next time we arrive in BiH, we will have a much larger delegation.
(Source: avaz)
