AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENTS PROTECTION WITH BIH SIGNED

ZAGREB, July 23 (Hina) - Croatian resigned Economy Minister Hrvoje Vojkovic and Bosnian Foreign Trade and Economy Minister Azra Hadziahmetovic in Zagreb on Tuesday signed an amendment to the agreement encouraging and protecting investments. #L# The amendment will enable the expansion of the application of the agreement in the entire region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, i.e. it also includes the Republika Srpska. The fundamental agreement was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1997 and related to only the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to Minister Vojkovic, the amendment should contribute to the two countries' further development of cooperation in trade and economy which is constantly increasing. The two countries' exchange in 2001 increased by almost 20 percent to US$686.2 million. This climbing trend has continued during the first four months of this year when the exchange reached US$225 million or 21.4 percent more than in the same period last year, Vojkovic said. In the period between 1994 to 2001 direct investments into Croatian companies in Bosnia reached about US$70million, or 13 percent of the total direct foreign investments into that country. If we keep in mind, smaller, undocumented investments, Vojkovic estimates, this amount could be magnified up to US$300 million. The largest individual Croatian investors in BiH are the Zagrebacka Bank. However, only ten percent of the overall exchange and investments relate to the Republika Srpska and one of the most significant objectives of the agreement signed today was to increase investments and trade with this entity, Vojkovic said. Under the 1996 agreement, Croatian investments gained privileges, i.e. they gained the status of national investors, Minister Hadziahmetovic said stressing that the agreement increased the investment attraction of both countries for investors from third countries. (hina) sp it