Bosnia, Italy to Sign Economic Cooperation Deal

Bosnian Prime Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda met his Italian colleague, Mario Monti, in Sarajevo on Monday and briefed him on the possibilities for Italian investors in Bosnia.

The two countries have announced that they will soon be signing an agreement on closer economic cooperation.

Monti said that Bevanda had told him on September 10 that the most interesting field for Italian investors would be construction of the Bosnian stretch of motorway that forms part of the international Corridor 5c.

“The share of Italian banks in Bosnia, which is 30 per cent, is also very significant,” Monti said. “We talked about ways to present the Bosnian market to potential Italian investors.”

Bevanda said that details of the economic agreement will be presented as soon as the two countries have signed it.

“The Adriatic-Ionian region within the European Union had been neglected but there are many possibilities there in terms of regional cooperation,” he noted.

The region was established to help solve issues between Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece.

As one of the aims of the macro-region is for the states to help each other, Monti said that his country will help Bosnia meet the EU criteria and advance towards membership.

“I know that politicians don't like the word 'lobbying' but I really liked the way that Bevanda used it during our meeting,” Monti said, “because he said that Italy is lobbying for Bosnia in the EU.”

Monti said that his country will try to help Bosnia in other ways, too, adding that the Balkan country had successfully survived many crises in the past.

Monti said that the country was very important to the EU because of its diversity of cultures and religions.