Annual meeting and business forum to connect national and international businesses
The EBRD will hold its 2019 Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Sarajevo on May 7-8, highlighting economic opportunities in Bosnia Herzegovina and in the Western Balkans, where the EBRD is a major investor.
Some 2,000 delegates will attend the conference, which will focus on the economic prospects of the Western Balkan economies and how growth in the region can be enhanced.
The leaders of the six Western Balkan nations – Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia And Serbia – will attend the conference and take part in a high-level roundtable that will highlight the importance of regional cooperation.
Regional cooperation and integration will play a key role at the Annual Meeting and Business Forum, whose theme this year is Connecting economies for stronger growth.
Particularly in the Western Balkans, the EBRD has placed a very high priority on promoting connectivity through its investments, with the aim of promoting both physical infrastructure links and market linkages that strengthen trade and improve the business climate as countries continue to develop. path towards rapprochement with the EU.
The EBRD is one of the leading investors in the Western Balkans, providing a record level of financing of €1.1 billion in 2018 and supporting their economies’ goal of joining the European Union.
The EBRD’s significant investments in the Western Balkans include projects that connect the region to Europe, such as the construction of the Vc road corridor which will strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ties with its immediate neighbors and beyond.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina alone, the EBRD has invested a total of €2.3 billion in 159 projects since it began its engagement in the country in 1995. The Bank’s total investment in the six Balkan countries Western countries exceed 11.6 billion euros.
The Business Forum will also provide a platform for high-level discussion on themes ranging from boosting small businesses to the effects of migration on labor markets, the opportunities and pitfalls of tourism and ways to connecting local and regional economies to the wider global economy. More than 900 business representatives are expected at the event.
EBRD targets record investments of more than €10 billion in 2019