Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Council of Ministers Chairman Zoran Tegeltija participated in the Western Balkans Investment Conference organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.
Following the official opening of the Conference and welcoming remarks by EBRD President Suma Cakrabati and Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia who holds the Presidency of the European Union, a session was held, attended by the Presidents of the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Western Balkans.
On the sidelines of the Conference, President Tegeltija met with EBRD President Sumo Chakrabati to discuss the current political and economic situation in BiH, as well as regional projects and initiatives.
On this occasion, Chairman Tegelti emphasized that the new convocation of the Council of Ministers is fully committed to continue, in accordance with its competencies, together with the entity governments, to work on European integration and reform processes aimed at stabilizing economic opportunities, economic growth, increasing public efficiency administration, and attracting domestic and foreign investment with the aim of creating new jobs.
The meeting also discussed investment plans for the coming period, with a particular focus on intensifying co-operation in supporting the initiative to strengthen the investment climate in BiH.
Tegeltija also spoke with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Wendy Morton.
The aim of the Summit is to highlight potential investment and business opportunities in the Western Balkans region and to promote regional and cross-border projects. This is the fourth EBRD summit of its kind; the inaugural Western Balkans Summit took place at the EBRD in February 2014 and, for the first time, brought together all the region’s six prime ministers.
The Western Balkans is a priority region for the EBRD. Today, the EBRD remains one of the largest institutional investors in countries of the region, with close to €12 billion invested to date.
The Summit will start with a high-level session during which the six leaders and the President of the EBRD will address the audience. This will be an opportunity to discuss their overall vision for the region, key regional projects and opportunities for investment in energy and transport as well as the “soft connectivity” agenda in the Western Balkans. This will be followed by a discussion panel, ‘Green Energy in the Western Balkans’.