The President of the Government of the Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković and the Minister of Economy and Entrepreneurship Vojin Mitrović have participated today in Udine in the work of the business forum organized by the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs Confindustria.
The Prime Minister Višković and Minister Mitrović presented the potential of the Republic of Srpska and the advantages of investing to Italian entrepreneurs, and answered the questions of potential investors.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska invited Italian entrepreneurs to come and invest in the Republic of Srpska, and highlighted the advantages of investing in the Republic of Srpska, among which are: favorable geographical location, proximity to the European Union, government incentives for investment, the most favorable tax rates in the region, and the favorable price of electricity.
He pointed out that investing in the Republic of Srpska is safe, and that the Government wants to cooperate with everyone on a partnership basis.
- A good example of how the Republic of Srpska treats investors is the Italian company PMP, which has been operating in Srpska for 20 years, as well as 15 other companies from Italy, which carry out their production activities in the Republic of Srpska, stated the Prime Minister Višković.
The Prime Minister said that cheap labor is not an advantage in the Republic of Srpska, but a workforce that is professional and capable.
- Our labor force performs the work professionally and with quality, and the task of the institutions of the Republic of Srpska, and my task as the Prime Minister, is to be a service to every investor, the Prime Minister Višković said.
He stated that, apart from energy, metal and processing industry, agriculture and tourism are also spheres that provide a good basis for new investments.
At the business forum in Udine, the cities of Gradiška and Laktaši have presented their potential today.
The Minister Vojin Mitrović spoke about the economic environment, who pointed out that the Republic of Srpska is ranked among 10 countries and regions in competition out of 350, as a good destination where it is worth investing.
“Procedures have been reduced from 21 days to three days and we are working together with you to start a business in Srpska as easily and quickly as possible”, said the Minister Mitrović and added that the Government is working with our local communities to offer and simplify procedures, as well as with our educational system on education and profiling of the workforce.
He said that it is the Government's determination to create the most favorable environment in the coming period.
“We are working on digitization and creating incentives for investors. Every entrepreneur is important to us, and we pay special attention to those who invest more than five million KM and employ more than 100 workers,” said the Minister Mitrović and stated that “we have tax refunds and contributions, and we help up to 30% of the investment.”
The Minister of Economy and Tourism in the Government of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Sergio Emidio Bini said at the forum that the government of this region closely monitors the development of cooperation and bilateral relations with the Balkan countries, and that this region has agreements on cooperation with regions in the Balkans. He thanked the delegation of the Government of the Republic of Srpska for visiting Trieste and presenting the potential of Srpska and investment opportunities.
The Assistant Minister of Economy and Entrepreneurship Slobodanka Dubravac said that there is a highway from Trieste to Banja Luka, and that the Republic of Srpska is building new kilometers of highways, which makes it competitive.
“The Republic of Srpska offers access to the CEFTA market, EFTA and Turkey, which is especially important for export-oriented investors,” Dubravac said and stated that Italy is the second largest foreign investor and foreign trade partner of the Republic of Srpska.
Speaking about the benefits for investment, Dubravac pointed out that in the Republic of Srpska the non-taxable part of the income amounts to 511 euros, and that there is no tax on the dividend.
She also pointed out that the tax base of investors who invest in technology is reduced.
“In the past 10 years, there was no increase in business costs, but we worked on reducing income rates and parafiscal burdens,” said the Assistant Minister of Economy and Entrepreneurship.
