BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY RATIFIES STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT WITH EU

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 8,2008) - The Bosnian State Presidency of ratified the Stabilization and Accession Agreement (SAA) with the EU yesterday.

The Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic was presiding over the 45th regular session yesterday, after which member of the Bosnian Presidency Nebojsa Radmanovic took over the chairmanship for an eight-month rotation.

The SAA and the Interim Agreement on Trade and Trade-Related Matters were signed in Luxembourg on June 16. The latter has been in force since July 1, while the former still needs to be ratified by the EU27.
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ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK'S DELEGATION VISITS BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 8,2008) - The FBiH Entity Prime MinisterM Nedzad Brankovic met today in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo with a delegation of the Islamic Bank for Development from Saudi Arabia, led by Ahmad M. Al-Ghannam.

The delegation signed the launch of a USD 5 million USD worth credit line for Bosnia's exporting enterprises yesterday with Bosna Bank International, which is seen by both sides as the beginning of a successful financial collaboration.

Al-Ghannam pointed out the agreement is an extension of assistance his country has been providing to Bosnia. Brankovic informed him that the FBiH entity is currently looking for ways to fund capital investments in the energy sector.
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KUWAIT INVESTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF BOSNIAN INFRASTRUCTURE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 7,2008) - The Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic and Kuwait’s Prime Minister Nasser Al-Sabah have agreed on a 30-million-Euro loan which will be given by the Kuwaiti Fund for Development, the Bosnian Deputy Finance Minister Fuad Kasumovic has announced.

The loan will bear interest rate of 1.5 per cent, and it will be used for Bosnia's highway network building.

However, it is not certain yet whether the road funded through this loan would be a section of the Sarajevo – Tuzla highway or the Vc Corridor highway.
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BH TELECOM INTRODUCES NEW MOBILE TELEPHONY SYSTEM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 7,2008) - Bosnian BH Telecom and Croatian Ericsson Nikola Tesla signed a contract worth 2.763 million Euros yesterday about the implementation of the 3G HSPA mobile telephony system.

The contract marks the launch of a new network in Bosnia, enabling video calls and high-speed internet access.

BH Telecom will be the first in the Bosnian market to launch a commercial 3G network, and thus join the group of 22 operators in the world with this type of service.

In the first stage of the project, base stations will be put up in the nine largest urban areas in the country. A UMTS signal licence has not been issued yet by Bosnian regulator RAK because of unavailable frequency.
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BOSNIAN STATE BUDGET TO INCREASE BY 12%

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 7,2008) - The Bosnian State Fiscal Council adopted yesterday a budget framework for the following year, providing for a 12-per-cent increase in the Bosnian state budget=.

Bosnia's Prime Minister Nikola Spiric explained the state budget would increase by 100 million Bosnian Marks, and that the government was guided by its commitment to conduct a more restrictive fiscal policy in 2009, in the light of indirect impact of the global crisis expected on the Bosnian economy.

The Bosnian government expects smaller VAT revenue and smaller GDP growth rate next year, and plans to reduce public spending, Spiric said.

However, the Bosnian Finance Minister Dragan Vrankic warned that the adopted budget framework is not sufficient to meet even the basic needs of government institutions.
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BOSNIAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES OFFERED PARTNERSHIP IN KUWAIT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 7,2008) - Sarajevo-based Bosnian construction companies Hidrogradnja and Euroasphalt have been offered cooperation in Kuwait and Iraq by a Kuwaiti businessman.

Representatives of the two companies that visited Kuwait last week with the Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic have confirmed that a Kuwaiti entrepreneur offered to build jointly a tennis court complex with a hotel in Kuwait, and possibly even a new town in Iraq, near Kerbala.

Kuwaiti businessman is expected in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo in three to four weeks with project papers, but the two companies are not certain yet whether they would accept his offer.
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