High Representative visits
Mostar

On the occasion of the Civil Servants Oath of Allegiance for the City
Administration of Mostar, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown will visit
Mostar on Thursday 27 October.

The City Administration of Mostar is the first major body to be formed under
the new Law on Civil Servants as professional civil servants appointed without
political interference. This event represents a key step forward in building
permanent foundations for the future of Mostar, and this is a major achievement
for the whole country.

The High Representative is invited to open proceedings and witness over 130
of civil servants taking their oath of allegiance as Civil Servants of Mostar
at

Before participating in the Oath of Allegiance Ceremony, the High
Representative will use this opportunity to visit Los Rosales, Centre for
children with special needs. The visit to Los Rosales will be open to
press.  The High Representative is expected to arrive

After the meetings with the Mayor of Mostar, Ljubo Beslic, and President of
the City Assembly, Murat Coric, the High Representative will address members of
press at

BiH’s Competitive Advantage Should Be No Secret to
Investors

The Principal Deputy High Representative, Larry Butler, is speaking this
morning at a conference on regional investment being organized in
Dubrovnik by Euromoney Magazine.

Ambassador Butler will emphasise the fact that

• the difficult and ambitious reforms undertaken by BiH
  in order to move forward with Euro Atlantic integration are first and foremost
  designed to bring real benefits to citizens;
  
• by bringing BiH closer to NATO and the EU, they make
  it a much more attractive investment destination – which means they improve
  the chances of getting more investment and creating more jobs; and
  
• they also boost investment prospects and job creation by tangibly
  improving the business environment.

Now, with the impending launch of
SAA
negotiations, that BiH has joined the rest of the region on the path to

Europe , investors must look for competitive advantage
when considering which Southeast European country they choose to invest in.

“BiH is a promising emerging market whose strategic sectors – including
hydropower, forestry and tourism – are already attracting international
investment interest,” Ambassador Butler notes. “This is the tip of the iceberg.
The tourism authorities are marketing the country as ‘
Southeast Europe‘s best-kept secret’ – its huge business potential ought to be
no secret among canny investors.”

Transition Works: That’s Its Best Defence

Also this morning, the OHR is publishing its Economic Newsletter for the
third quarter of 2005. It will be available on our web site during the day.

A central issue tackled in the latest Newsletter is popular weariness with
reform.

As Ambassador Butler notes in his introduction, this weariness is entirely
understandable.  “Incompetence and corruption in the field of economic
management have delayed the implementation of some key reforms in BiH and thus
delayed the benefits that these reforms can bring – so the public has been left
with much pain but little gain. Yet the only honest response to this is to
highlight incremental improvements and ensure that these are spread as broadly
as possible. Transition works. That is it’s best defence. The answer to
this is not to slow down, but to speed up the implementation of reforms so that
we can get through the agenda and so that citizens, more and more, have
something to show for their effort and their forbearance.”

Three key tasks for the authorities highlighted in the Newsletter, each of
which should be implemented by the end of the year are

• To enact the BiH Salary Law, requiring government
  salaries to be kept in line with resources;
  
• To enact the BiH Law on Obligations, which will
  modernize the business environment and encourage investment and job creation;
  and
  
• To implement the recommendations made by the RS Supreme Auditor in order
  to halt the theft and corruption at RS Sume and RS
  Elektroprivreda