With a panel discussion called “Stolac Diaspora Business Sessions”, an event called “The Awakening of Stolac” was opened today in Stolac.
“Many thanks to the City of Stolac and the mayor, the Public Institution of Radimlje and the dear men and women of Stolac for opening the doors of their community and showing that this city recognizes benevolent initiatives. We came to Stolac to invest in the development of tourism and catering, in order to bring new working places and made Stolac a globally recognizable tourist destination. Today, we are starting that conversation here, following all the great results that the local community has already achieved,” Aličehić said.
Those present were greeted by the Ambassador of Switzerland to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Daniel Hunn, who expressed his support for the important investment “SEE Real Estate BH”, as an investment initiated thanks to the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina diaspora in Switzerland and partners from Switzerland.
Diaspora as a source of investment
“I would like to thank the organizers for this great initiative. Since I arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have learned a lot about the importance that the diaspora has for this country. In Switzerland, we have between 60,000 and 70,000 people of BiH origin, and most of them maintain close ties with their country of origin. And while in the beginning the diaspora was key when you look at the structure of remittances from abroad, sending money to their families here i.e. back home, today the diaspora has become a source of investment,” said Hunn.
Entrepreneurs Zlatko Papac, Ramiz Zajmović and Jasmin Sinanović spoke about examples of good practice and investment in the wider region.
As part of the “Buđenje Stoca” event, a tasting of local wines and food was held, and a handball tournament was held for girls from the whole region of Herzegovina, and a concert of the City Brass Band will be held tomorrow.
The USAID project “Diaspora Invest” confirmed that this project will continue to support investments.
“Diaspora investments in local communities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina show that our community outside can be a driver of development. Such events are an opportunity to talk about it, to indicate where we can support our investors and what our next steps are. It is extremely important that this the event confirmed the positive cooperation between the investor and the local self-government unit, and we hope that this partnership will yield results in the future”, said the USAID project “Diaspora Invest”.
Today’s part of the program was concluded by the director of the Public Institution “Radimlja” Stolac, Maja Lopin, who presented the activities of the City of Stolac in tourism, culture and protection of cultural heritage.
