EU TO SUPPORT BOSNIAN TRADE POLICY REFORM WITH 1,45 MILLION EUROS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (January 22 ,2008) - The European Union Project, “Support to Trade Policy Development and Capacity Building in Bosnia ”, in cooperation with the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations today are organising today a Conference on the Bosnian foreign trade policy.

”At present, Bosnia is a member of CEFTA; with the EU, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has been initialled and its signature is expected soon, and negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organisation are entering the final stages. In relation to these developments it is necessary to implement relevant policy reforms in the area of Foreign Trade in order to enable the Bosnian economy to maximise the benefits from these economic integration processes and to expand its export activities in the markets of CEFTA and the EU members”, stated the release of the EU Commission.

During the conference, the document “Trade Needs Assessment Report” prepared by the EU will be presented. The document provides an analysis of the current status of the Bosnian foreign trade policy, and makes recommendations for eliminating the constraints identified in the report.

Based on these recommendations, the EU will support the Bosnian state institutions, especially the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, in drafting and implementing a comprehensive foreign trade policy and in harmonising BiH legislation with WTO rules and with the acquis communautaire.

The value of this Project over a 20 month period is 1.457.653 EUR.

The Conference will be attended by the representatives of the Bosnian state institutions that are in charge of drafting and implementing the Bosnian foreign trade policy, representatives of the private sector, international organisations and academia.