Attracting foreign investments is the key to economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And in the area of the Majevicka region, there are more and more people who invest capital acquired abroad in their homeland. The municipality of Lopare is an example of how diaspora investment can improve the development of the local community.
This municipality is an example of successful cooperation between the local community and the diaspora. In the past years, four factories were opened, investments were made in infrastructure, education and improvement of the living conditions of the people of this region. About 3,000 people live in the diaspora, and the estimates that in the past few years, about 30 million BAM have been invested in Lopare.
“We are looking for ways to employ the population that lives here. At the moment, there is space for building development, and new housing is needed here. Also, investment in agriculture, in tourism”, says Rado Savic, Mayor of Lopare Municipality.
And the promotion of tourist and economic potential, traditional values, domestic national cuisine – and this time through the traditional event “Days of the Diaspora” showed what this local community has at its disposal. What is certainly worth mentioning is the famous zarac cheese from Majevica, which is the brand of this region. The founding of the cooperative made it possible to connect producers and standardize production, which gave the hundred-year-old tradition of this region in the production of zarac smoked cheese its place on the market.
“We present here our products, smoked zarac, smoked fatty cheese, and we present products that are the brand of our region. It’s a lot of work, we can’t produce as much as we sell, and it takes about 8-10 days for production, but we combined the beautiful and the useful, a little work and socializing, mostly – we function”, says agricultural producer Zdenka Mitrovic.
This region is also known for the production of fruit and fruit brandies. They say they are very satisfied with this year’s crop. They are also satisfied with the cooperation with producers from the region, where they export raw materials and with whom they are also considering the possibility of entering the market together. The year, they say, was very favorable for production
“This year was top-notch, the yield was even 25% better. Although we bought, technically, ripe fruit”, says Zoran Gacic, representative of Gacic store from Bogatic.
Farmers, fruit growers, vegetable growers and beekeepers also presented their products at affordable fair prices. However, the best measure of quality was the tasting, Federalna writes.
