Saudi delegation

Saudi Delegation Eyes Future Investments in Bosnia
Saudi Arabian officials are paying an official visit to Bosnia aimed at stressing closer connections between the two countries, especially in real estate, banking and weapons. 

A delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is paying a two-day visit to Bosnia, aimed at highlighting the closer political and trading connections between the two countries.

The delegation, which includes the Saudi Advisor to the King's Court, Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khatib, and the Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development, Yousef bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam, was in Bosnia from May 9 to May 11, the Saudi embassy in Sarajevo.

The broad goal is to identity investment opportunities in the country and sign cooperation agreements with Bosnian authorities.

On Tuesday, Al-Bassam and the Bosnian Minister of Finance, Vjekoslav Bevanda, agreed a memorandum of understanding by which the Saudi Fund for Development will donate 22 million US dollars towards construction of a new library for the University of Sarajevo.

"The new building will have a total surface of 11,000 square meters ... and will benefit all future generations," Bevanda told the media.

Under the agreement, the Saudi Fund for Development will also loan 6 million dollars to the eastern town of Gorazde, which will be used to rebuild part of the water supply network and modernise infrastructure.

"Relations between Saudi Arabia and Bosnia are remarkable and historically developed ... we are proud to say that our Fund has contributed to realising a lot of projects in Bosnia," Al-Bassami told the Bosnian media agency FENA after signing the agreement.

In the past, the Saudi Fund for Development has financed various projects in Bosnia, especially in infrastructure as well as housing programs for thousands internally displaced persons who remained homeless after the 1992-5 war in Bosnia.

After a meeting with the Bosnian Presidency, Ahmed Aqeel Al-Kathib stressed that the delegation was seeking "concrete investment projects in Bosnia", the media reported.

Although Saudi Arabia is still only a marginal investor in Bosnia, the flow of its investments has grown, Jasmina Halilovic, from the Bosnian Foreign Investments Promotion Agency, FIPA, told BIRN.

Investments from Saudi Arabia currently represent only 1.75 per cent of the total FDI that Bosnia has received since the war, Halilovic explained.

"But they have increased a lot, especially since 2012 ... in the sectors of real estate and banking", Halilovic noted.

Total investments by Saudi Arabia in Bosnia stood at 100 million euros in 2009 but more than doubled in the next five years, to 204 million euros at the end of 2014, Halilovic stated.

A similar dynamic can be detected in commercial relations between the two countries, according to the Bosnian Chamber of Foreign Commerce.

Commerce between the two countries has grown, especially boosted by the Bosnian arms industry, whose products represent the main Bosnian export to Saudi Arabia.

Their annual value more than doubled from 2014 to 2015, from 8.72 million to 18.96 million euros.