The first investment forum of the diaspora will be held in Prijedor from 11-12 August. The goal is to promote this city as a favorable destination for investment.
The Mayor of Prijedor Marko Pavić told journalists that the goal of the forum is to show its participants what are the benefits that could be offered to potential investors in Prijedor.
“We consider the diaspora our people, and people from the RS and BIH who now live abroad, and who have kept their connections and have an emotional tie to Prijedor or to the city in which they were born, and are able to invest capital in this area’’, said Pavić.
He said that in Prijedor the diaspora has already made significant improvements in investment, and positive examples are the companies “Austronet”, “Norbos”, and “Alijagić”.
“We will show potential investors from our diaspora what we can offer, and firstly we will let them know that we certified the city administration and that the administration is working according to world standards, and we recently received a certificate that we are one of the most favorable destinations in South East Europe for investment’’, said Pavić.
The President of the Nonprofit Organization “Naša perspektiva” Armin Alijagić said that this will be the first forum of its kind not only in the RS and in BiH, but in the world, and that he is part of the project “Stimulate investment and business cooperation with members of the community of the diaspora with the goal to improve the overall situation of all citizens in Prijedor”.
“The goal of the forum is to stimulate investment, as well as business cooperation of Prijedor business people with business people from members of the diaspora community who have their firms abroad’’, said Alijagić.
Member of this organization and Professor at the Pan European University “Apeiron” Sanel Jakupović added that organizers believe that this forum would change and accelerate a positive change in the course of events in the sphere of investment in the next period.
“We base this optimism on the indicators that investment of the diaspora at the level of BiH is most intensive in Prijedor and we hope that after the forum this intensity will be doubled’’, said Jakupović.
The forum will be held under the auspices of the city of Prijedor and under the partnership of the support of the World Association of BiH Diaspora and the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber, as well as donors of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Office for Development and Cooperation.