Country Guides
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Business
Business
Bosnia and Herzegovina
• GDP: US$7 billion (2003).
• Main exports: Wood and paper and metal products.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels and food.
• Main trade partners: Croatia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Hungary.
Economy
The collapse of the internal Yugoslav market at the beginning of the 1990s placed the Bosnian economy in serious difficulty, especially as it relied heavily on the sale of its agricultural produce and mineral ores to the rest of the Yugoslav federation.
The main agricultural products are tobacco and fruit; livestock rearing is also important. There are extensive mineral resources, particularly of copper, lead, zinc and gold, plus iron ore and lignite coal.
The civil war that broke out in 1992 then brought the economy to a virtual standstill. Reconstruction was backed by international aid of US$5 billion. Although the division of the economy between two jurisdictions has made economic policy-making difficult, the Bosnian economy as a whole recorded exceptional growth during the 1990s (at some stages, exceeding 30% annually). A central bank has been set up and a common currency, Konvertibilna Marka (fixed in value to the Euro), successfully introduced.
Initially, most of the post-war international aid was directed to the Muslim-Croat region. The Republika Srpska managed to get much of its industrial sector working again but relied heavily on the support of Yugoslavia. The war between NATO and Yugoslavia in the late 1990s thus set the Bosnian Serb economy back once again.
Since then, the central government has received a series of loans, totalling approximately US$250 million, from the IMF. Bosnia has begun a slow transformation to a market economy. The government is hoping that opening up the economy will attract both inward investment and, equally important, the return of the country’s skilled and professional workforce – most of whom have been living in exile since the war.
Business Contacts
Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia & Herzegovina
Branislava Djurdjeva 10, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 663 631.
Website: www.komorabih.com
Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina
Marsala Tita 25, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 278 100.
Website: www.cbbh.gov.ba
Travel Essentials
• GDP: US$7 billion (2003).
• Main exports: Wood and paper and metal products.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels and food.
• Main trade partners: Croatia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Hungary.
• Main exports: Wood and paper and metal products.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels and food.
• Main trade partners: Croatia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Hungary.
Economy
The collapse of the internal Yugoslav market at the beginning of the 1990s placed the Bosnian economy in serious difficulty, especially as it relied heavily on the sale of its agricultural produce and mineral ores to the rest of the Yugoslav federation.
The main agricultural products are tobacco and fruit; livestock rearing is also important. There are extensive mineral resources, particularly of copper, lead, zinc and gold, plus iron ore and lignite coal.
The civil war that broke out in 1992 then brought the economy to a virtual standstill. Reconstruction was backed by international aid of US$5 billion. Although the division of the economy between two jurisdictions has made economic policy-making difficult, the Bosnian economy as a whole recorded exceptional growth during the 1990s (at some stages, exceeding 30% annually). A central bank has been set up and a common currency, Konvertibilna Marka (fixed in value to the Euro), successfully introduced.
Initially, most of the post-war international aid was directed to the Muslim-Croat region. The Republika Srpska managed to get much of its industrial sector working again but relied heavily on the support of Yugoslavia. The war between NATO and Yugoslavia in the late 1990s thus set the Bosnian Serb economy back once again.
Since then, the central government has received a series of loans, totalling approximately US$250 million, from the IMF. Bosnia has begun a slow transformation to a market economy. The government is hoping that opening up the economy will attract both inward investment and, equally important, the return of the country’s skilled and professional workforce – most of whom have been living in exile since the war.
The main agricultural products are tobacco and fruit; livestock rearing is also important. There are extensive mineral resources, particularly of copper, lead, zinc and gold, plus iron ore and lignite coal.
The civil war that broke out in 1992 then brought the economy to a virtual standstill. Reconstruction was backed by international aid of US$5 billion. Although the division of the economy between two jurisdictions has made economic policy-making difficult, the Bosnian economy as a whole recorded exceptional growth during the 1990s (at some stages, exceeding 30% annually). A central bank has been set up and a common currency, Konvertibilna Marka (fixed in value to the Euro), successfully introduced.
Initially, most of the post-war international aid was directed to the Muslim-Croat region. The Republika Srpska managed to get much of its industrial sector working again but relied heavily on the support of Yugoslavia. The war between NATO and Yugoslavia in the late 1990s thus set the Bosnian Serb economy back once again.
Since then, the central government has received a series of loans, totalling approximately US$250 million, from the IMF. Bosnia has begun a slow transformation to a market economy. The government is hoping that opening up the economy will attract both inward investment and, equally important, the return of the country’s skilled and professional workforce – most of whom have been living in exile since the war.
Business Contacts
Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia & Herzegovina
Branislava Djurdjeva 10, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 663 631.
Website: www.komorabih.com
Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina
Marsala Tita 25, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 278 100.
Website: www.cbbh.gov.ba
Branislava Djurdjeva 10, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 663 631.
Website: www.komorabih.com
Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina
Marsala Tita 25, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Tel: (33) 278 100.
Website: www.cbbh.gov.ba
Travel Essentials
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