A major business conference in Bosnia dubbed the ‘Balkan Davos’ began Monday with Turkey playing a prominent role.
The eighth Sarajevo Business Forum (SBF) will feature contributions from Bosnian leaders and guests such as the Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution.
Turkey's Deputy Economy Minister Fatih Metin was also among this year's speakers.
Metin described the event as a platform where investment was assessed.
He also said Turkey paid great importance to Bosnia’s economic potential in the region.
"Bilateral trade volume, which was realized as $160 million in 2006, has increased approximately four times in 2016 and reached $600 million," Metin said.
“Our goal is to double our total trade volume of $600 million in the shortest amount of time," he added.
Christian Danielsson, the EU’s enlargement official, said existing potential in the region would be strengthened only through EU integration.
Danielsson stressed it was important for western Balkan countries to take part in the EU market.
The SBF is a two-day event; Tuesday will see panels on Southeast Asia, Dubai and Southeast European modernization.
It focuses on expanding regional economic cooperation and attracting international investment to Southeast Europe.
It also sets the scene for exchanges between top government officials and key business figures in Bosnia, as well as other countries in the Balkans.
Investors and leaders from Gulf countries, Asia and Europe are also participating.
This year the event focuses on building new business alliances, thanks to large-scale participation from India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey.
The Sarajevo Business Forum has been held since 2010 in a collaborative effort by Bosna Bank International and Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.
Since then, it has been attended by top officials from around the globe. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad, Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic as well as ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are some of those to have attended to the forum so far.
