His Excellency Hani bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Mominah, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in BiH, was appointed a few months ago, and he talked about his first impressions after arriving in BiH, relations between the two countries, developments in the Middle East …
Although it was not long since he came to BiH, Hani bin Abdullah Mominah says that during this relatively short period, through meetings with officials and after getting to know the way of life in BiH and relying on what he read, he realized that the war was very intense and that it left serious consequences.
“Also it is necessary to preserve the achieved unity of the country and its sovereignty. These things are not forgotten easily, but the existence of sincere intentions and desire for dedicated work of the leaders of all nationalities will be the guarantor of the progress of the country on the path of building, coexistence, and respect for religious and ethnic diversity which BiH had throughout history. This is what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia tends to and it is ready to support it,” said H. E. Hani bin Abdullah Mominah.
Recently, the start of construction of the University Library of BiH was announced, which will be financed by Saudi Arabia. What other projects are also in the plan?
There is no doubt that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave its priority to their contributions to build man and institutions that take care of it, because it is the Kingdom of humanity. Starting on this basis, I would like to mention that the project of construction and equipping of the University Library in Sarajevo is not the first project of its kind in BiH on the scientific and academic field and it will not be the last. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supported renovations of a large number of primary and secondary schools that were destroyed in the war. Also, we renovated some faculties in BiH and supported the libraries in BiH, provided the manuscripts to a number of institutes and research centers and institutions that are dealing with manuscripts and archive materials.
“The help provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not addressed to a single group or nation, but complete Bosnian society, which is positively reflected on this friendly help to BiH. These projects will not be the last, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will provide implementation of projects related to scientific and educational institutions through the Saudi Fund for Development, and this is the best way to help BiH to continue along the path towards the goal.
All forms of assistance are nothing different from the mission of the Cultural Center “King Fahd” as well as other organizations that are working under the supervision of the Embassy, and that are providing free courses in computer science, foreign languages, different forms of handicrafts, translating books, organization of seminars and scientific symposiums, etc. Citizens of BiH, members of different nationalities, are given the opportunity for free additional education.
Saudi Arabia is one of the major donors in BiH. However, what is the volume of investments from Saudi Arabia in BiH? What is the obstacle for these investments to be bigger?
Decisions on investments of Saudi businessman depends on their belief in the safety of investments as well as on attractive conditions, protection of investment, a stable monetary system, labor laws and other measures for boosting investments. I think that Bosnian businessmen should make the difference between Saudi businessmen invest their money in industry and commerce under the Law on investments and cooperation between BiH and Saudi companies in the field of realization joint projects, particularly in the field of construction, which recently witnessed a great expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia directed huge sums of money to build universities, schools, roads and hospitals.
I believe that this sector is suitable for BiH companies that have great experience in this area, especially if we consider that this sector in BiH is in a certain stagnation due to the current economic crisis in BiH. According to my knowledge, most of BH construction companies are not working in their full capacity because of weak demand for this kind of services in BiH.
In order to realize this goal, it would be good if there would be the initiative by the Bosnian authorities to the authorities of Saudi Arabia, to present the capacities and capabilities of BiH companies and discover the way of cooperation. We must not forget the existence of the open competition by other companies from different countries who want to enter the Saudi market. I also think that the existence of the visa regime for Saudi businessmen is big obstacle, if not the largest one.
(Source: N. N./Klix.ba)
