American Chamber of Commerce in BiH in partnership with its member company – Sector Security, marked the International Anti-Corruption Day by organizing a Conference titled “Corruption vs. development of BiH” in Banja Luka.
Corruption discourages investment, causing unforeseen costs. It helps the grey economy to grow, reducing state revenues on the basis of unpaid taxes, increases overall costs thus hinders the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These facts were mentioned through two panels on the conference, where the moderator Mrs. Svetlana Cenić, discussed with the panelists, both from the public and private sector, the hole scope of the problem of corruption and its many consequences that hinders the development of BiH. At the beginning of the conference, during his opening speech, the guests were addressed by Mr. Edward Gallagher, director of the U.S. Embassy in Banja Luka who talked about the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Act that prohibits U.S. companies to engage in corruption or bribery abroad.
Through the first panel titled “What do institutions say how does the corruption affect the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina …” the representatives of the Agency for prevention and coordination of fight against corruption BiH, Transparency International, the Support for Anti-Corruption and Audit Office of the Republic of Serbia public sector discussed how big of an influence is the ongoing corruption in BiH on the countries development, while in the panel dedicated to the opinions of the private sector in BiH, on the same topic, representatives of the three member companies of AmCham BiH: UniCredit Bank AD Banja Luka, sector Security, Telemach together with Arifagic invesment, shared with the audience their view of the corruptions negative influence.
“American Chamber of Commerce in Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes that accession to the European Union is a strategic priority for BiH, whereas the developed corruption within the country slows down its development and its entry into the EU. Therefore the Chamber, together with its countless members, in their daily business, establishes a dialogue between the business community and government institutions in BiH in order to identify obstacles to the smooth market operations, and also tends to eliminate the identified problems that stand in the way of the development of BiH, “said Violeta Čibukčić , executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the World Bank “Governance Indicators”, compared to more than 200 countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country in transition is below the middle scale of corrupt countries. Inadequate legal and policy mechanisms do not provide sufficient guarantees for effective control of disposal of public authorities, which is “fertile ground” for corruption practices. Such an environment in the business of the public and the private sector has a negative impact on the economic conditions of the country.
