Business Forum in Sarajevo: How to Increase Turkish Investments in BiH

Bosnia and Herzegovina is constantly increasing and improving its foreign trade balance with Turkey, it was stated today in Sarajevo at the Agricultural-Business Forum of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Turkey, reports Patria agency.

On this occasion, Turkish businessmen and investors, representatives from the fields of agriculture, business, and banking sectors, are staying in Sarajevo. More than 80 major Turkish companies are attending.

The Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Turkey, Ahmet Eşref Fakibaba, held a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Mirko Šarović, and they discussed improving cooperation between the two countries.

Šarović emphasized that Turkey is the number one foreign trade partner for BiH, as Turkey is the country to which BiH exported the most agricultural products in 2016, and the same will be true for 2017.

- The export of agricultural products and food of plant and animal origin to this country will reach over 300 million KM in 2017, and I would say that agricultural products account for 75 percent of BiH's total exports to Turkey. I emphasize this particularly because Turkey is an agricultural powerhouse - Šarović emphasized.

 

Ali Rıza Akbaş, General Manager of Ziraat Bank in BiH, also participated in the panel discussion, emphasizing that his bank is already assisting in the implementation of various investment programs. He also invited investors from Turkey, as well as domestic ones, to invest in BiH's agriculture, and that Ziraat Bank will help them in this.

- We have about 30 branches in BiH, soon in Bijeljina and Prijedor. We are trying to be present throughout the territory of BiH. Ziraat Bank was the first foreign bank to come to BiH in 1996. We have particularly worked in the banking sector. We have historical relations with BiH dating back to the Middle Ages, and if you want to do something for a country, you must do it at an institutional level. We have introduced some changes in the management of the bank, we are trying to expand and support investments in rural areas. BiH has huge potentials in livestock and agriculture, especially compared to Turkey - said Ali Riza Akbaş.

He added that through credit lines, they want to help all interested investors, especially those who will invest in agriculture.