Synergy for New Attainments
12. 06. 2009.
Representatives from six western Balkan investment promotion agencies signed a memorandum of understanding in Vienna on June 8th, creating a network aimed at improving mutual cooperation and investment in the region. The agreement to create a regional network of investment promotion agencies was signed by representatives of the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA), the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APIU) of Croatia, the Montenegrin Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA), Invest in Macedonia, and Albinvest of Albania.
“The signing of this memorandum will strengthen the cooperation we have developed over the past three years and the position of our region,” declared SIEPA Deputy Director Bojan Janković. He added that this network was significant for all of its member countries and that it will at first serve as a platform to share experiences and cooperate on projects. “Our agencies developed at different times. We have helped each other before, and this agreement will strengthen this cooperation further. It is as important for us as it is for the international network. If we’re able to cooperate and open our doors to one another, then that is a significant sign for the international community and investors,“ noted Janković.
Petar Ivanović, the director of MIPA, believes that the memorandum opens the door for Montenegro to approach bigger investors. “Each investor who has nervously come looked at the region as a whole, or presumed to enter, or there were many smaller investors who came together in our small market. Ivanović explained that member organizations agreed to mutual openness, to share information as much as possible, to promote the region together and not as individual countries, and to approach investors together.
