Public-Private Dialogues for Competitiveness Reforms in Bosnia Herzegovina

In an assessment performed by the Regional Center for Organization Management (RCOM), business associations and chamber of commerce in Bosnia Herzegovina mentioned that much of the current  policy making process  and local governance is the result of the work or recommendations provided by foreign institutions or donors. Bosnian business membership organizations perceive themselves as “receivers” of ideas, policies or practices.

To address this issue, the World Bank Institute has involved RCOM in a project aiming to boost the organizational capacities and technical skills of the Bosnian business membership organizations in fostering market development and promoting regulatory reforms. The project “Public- Private Dialogues for Competitiveness Reforms” included two workshops in Sarajevo and Banja Luka where representatives of Bosnian business associations and chambers of commerce learned how to select and use public-private dialogue mechanisms for competitiveness reforms that are relevant to their specific needs.

“If Bosnian business membership organization want to work in an environment regulated by policies that respond to their needs, they have to become more proactive and involved in the process of creating these policies, as well as be less dependant on third parties. This is what we have set to accomplish with this project.” says Camelia Bulat, RCOM’s Executive Director.

Furthermore, RCOM has also developed a toolkit with the scope of introducing business leaders and their key stakeholders to public private dialogue mechanisms for competitiveness and equip them with the right tools and practical knowledge to cooperate with public sector authorities in business environment reforms. The toolkit builds on existing resources that were developed by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the World Bank Group and covers topics such as the four  dimensions of competitiveness, public and private sector responsibility for competitiveness and the need for cooperation between them, tools and mechanisms that can be used by the private sector in defining and making its message heard and in participating in public private dialogues and case studies and examples of successful public private initiatives.

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