IFAD ENSURES USD 14 MILLION FOR SMALL COMPANIES IN BOSNIA

( Editorial: --> 6570 ) ROME/SARAJEVO, Dec 7 (Hina/Habena) - The International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Bosnian government signed an agreement on financial assistance of a project on the reconstruction and development of small companies in Bosnia, the Bosnian foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday. The agreement was signed in Rome on December 5. The USD-14-million-worth agreement is IFAD's second project in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was signed by IFAD president Fawzi Al- Sultan and Bosnia's Ambassador to Italy Vlatko Kraljevic. An agreement was simultaneously signed between IFAD and Bosnia's two entities: the Croat-Moslem Federation and the Serb Republic. IFAD engaged in the post-war reconstruction of small companies in Bosnia in 1996, together with the World Bank. The project is aimed at resolving serious issues in the food-processing industry, reducing unemployment, and at improving basic services in the 25 municipalities of the Federation and five in the Bosnian Serb Republic. (hina) ha 072106 MET dec 97