S&T Country Report - Albania - WBC-INCO Net

stakeholders, and provided assistance to the EC in managing the RED Fund, which
financed forty-seven SME and tourism development projects throughout the country
and supported the operational costs of the RDAs themselves.
The new project’s overall objective was to stimulate economic growth and
employment generation, thereby contributing to the creation of a basis for sustainable
development and social dialogue in BiH.
- Capacity Building for Trade and FDI Attraction to BiH – TDI
Implementation of the Project started in March 2005 and was running until October
2006. The Project was focusing on the development of trade, on expanding trade
opportunities, on raising the capacities of the BiH economy and, by so doing, on
assisting BiH to reduce its trade deficit.
The Project intervened in the following 3 main areas:
• policy development, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations and
administration;
• foreign trade; and
• attraction of foreign direct investment.
The objective of the Project, supported by the European Commission, was to assist
the State of BiH in developing the capacity to create a trade policy, consistent with
international norms, as established by the WTO and SAA, and in the country’s
economic interests. A well conducted trade policy is of key importance to the
improvement of the trade deficit, increasing export opportunities and attracting
foreign direct investment.
- EU Building Export Promotion Capability in BiH - EU EXPRO (Building Export
Promotion Capability in BiH)
This is 18 month Project funded by the European Union (EU), which commenced on
6 February 2006.The overall project objective is to build export promotion capacity in
BiH to be achieved through implementation of 3 separate project components
designed to:
• Provide capacity building support to MoFTER (Ministry of Foreign Trade and
Economic Relations) and the FTC (Foreign Trade Chamber), in order to
secure an effective institutional framework that can implement a BiH export
promotion strategy;
• Assist the Foreign Trade Chamber in developing international competitiveness
and capacity to export in specific sectors; and
• Improve access to trade and market information and increase awareness of
BiH’s export potential among BiH intermediaries and the business community
in BiH and internationally.
- Quick Impact Facility (QIF)
The initiative of the European Commission (EC) addresses the issue of sustainable
return of refugees through support to local economic development and job creation. It
provides grants and consulting/training to SMEs in key return areas, strengthening
the network of business service providers; assistance to local authorities to improve
the business environment and development of public-private partnerships.
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