Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina has made incremental progress since the 2012 assessment, but its business environment continues to be cumbersome and it still lags behind its regional neighbours in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policy development. The weak co-ordination between public institutions at state and entity levels not only leads to the creation of disconnected policies but also impedes their implementation. More positively, a new public procurement law was adopted in 2014. The signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union established access to EU public procurement markets. The country has made efforts to promote entrepreneurial skills with the introduction of a nationwide entrepreneurial learning strategy, and introducing entrepreneurial skills into school curricula. Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to face severe issues with bureaucratic procedures such as company registration and business licensing, which currently have to be performed twice, once in each respective entity, creating serious market distortions within the country. SMEs and start-ups would benefit from a strategic approach to innovation and financial instruments to promote it. Access to finance remains a major obstacle for SME development. These challenges, and others, highlight the growing need for increased policy co-ordination between the state and entities and the need to introduce a nationwide SME development strategy.

SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2016: Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Small Business Act country profile