Owing to the BFC business-friendly environment certificate, the city of Prijedor has been ranked among the local communities with easier access to donor and credit funds from domestic and international institutions.

The head of the city’s Department of Economy and Entrepreneurship, Rade Rosić, said that this certificate confirmed Prijedor’s development of a business-friendly environment and a message to domestic and foreign investors that they had a reliable partner in the city authorities.

Rosić says that keeping this certificate requires meeting 12 very demanding criteria and 74 sub-criteria.

– In the preceding period, we underwent a series of certifications and recertifications, and this has helped us to show domestic and foreign investors that they can rest assured that the City Administration has all the incentives and processes necessary for investors to rely on, and that they have a reliable partner – Rosić said.

Dijana Đaković, head of the Prijedor regional center of the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Srpska, said that only 12 local communities in Srpska had met the necessary criteria for obtaining the BFC certificate.

She stated that the certificates were awarded by the Republic of Srpska Chamber of Commerce, which is the technical secretariat of the regional BFC certification program for Srpska.

– Local self-governments have recognized the standard and many are interested in introducing it, precisely because it offers a concrete activity guide on how to build organizational structures or improve those already existing towards economic development – Đaković emphasized.

She added that the standard upgraded the transparency of operation, which was important for investors and donors, and also imposed dialogue as means of making decisions relevant for the economy.

The certificate is being improved constantly, and in the Republic of Srpska the third edition of the certification is in use and the fourth is being prepared.

Drago Mandić, the owner of M i M company producing plastic articles, said that this certificate was useful to everyone engaged in any kind of business.

He stated that the certificate benefited all businessmen because it facilitated obtaining information about companies and what can be achieved in an environment like Prijedor.

– Communication is at a much higher level than in the local communities not holding such a certificate – Mandić said.

Businessmen note that the advantages of the BFC certificate, i.e. a business-friendly environment, are visible in practice, especially in cooperation with domestic and foreign partners.

At the recent Partnership for a more Competitive Region conference held in Dubrovnik, among 30 local governments from the Western Balkans, the city of Prijedor was awarded the BFC certificate, which it had first received in 2012.

Source: RTRS-SRNA

Photo: SRNA