Germans to Send Experts to BiH for Post-Flood Reconstruction

Representatives of the Chambers of Commerce of Germany and Hungary will send aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help our country overcome economic problems caused by the floods that hit our country in May this year, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, Ahmet Egrlić, told the Patria agency that representatives of the Hungarian Chamber will arrive in our country in a few days and offer assistance in repairing damage to road infrastructure and railways.

Germany will send two experts who will offer a plan and program based on which the economy of BiH will more easily emerge from the crisis it fell into due to natural disasters. Some of these proposals have already been announced by the Germans, relating to freezing tax obligations and exemption from customs duties on the import of certain machinery needed to restart production, etc.

- Germany had similar floods that caused enormous damage to their economy. Their advice on how they dealt with those problems will be of great benefit to BiH – Egrlić told Patria.

Egrlić explains that the deficits in the budgets at all levels of government in BiH showed their true danger precisely during the natural disaster that struck our country, because BiH is unable to form a fund from which the recovery of the destroyed economy will be financed.

- Although the administration in our country is cumbersome, we have now seen that it is unable to respond to businessmen who need their help – says Egrlić.

About 120 companies reported damages during the floods to the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, whose direct and indirect damage is measured in millions of convertible marks. Experts from the FTC BiH estimate that as much as 30 percent of BiH's economy was destroyed by the floods. These are companies that were mainly export-oriented, writes Patria.