General summary
The country’s legislation is open to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with a very few restrictions and foreign investors that enter the country tend to stay and reinvest. The state-level Law on the Policy of Foreign Direct Investment accords foreign investors the same rights as domestic investors and guarantees foreign investors national treatment, protection against nationalization/expropriation, and the right to dispose of profits and transfer funds. Most business sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina are fully open to foreign equity ownership. Notable exceptions to this general rule are select strategic sectors, such as defense; electric power transmission, which is closed to foreign investment; and some areas of publishing and media, where foreign ownership is restricted to 49%. However, the government may decide, if it deems justified, to waive the 49 % foreign ownership limit for defense industry companies.
Investors’ rights and incentives include:
- Entitled to open accounts in any commercial bank in domestic or freely convertible currency in the territory of BiH
- Eligible to freely employ foreign nationals, subject to the labor and immigration laws of BiH
- Protected against nationalization, requisition or measures having similar effects
- May own real estate in BiH and have the same property rights with respect to real estate as any legal entity in BH
- Authorised to transfer abroad, freely and without delay, in a convertible currency, any profits resulting from their investment in BH
- No restrictions on management of companies with foreign capital; the founder selects a management team himself/herself
- Equipment being imported as a part of share capital is exempt from paying customs duties (this exemption does not refer to passenger vehicles and slot and gambling machines)
Sources: Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Last updated: 19/2-2019
