The Fostering Interventions for Rapid Market Advancement (FIRMA) project, sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (Sida) is a five-year project that began in September 2009 to support sustainable economic growth, employment expansion, and increased household incomes in Bosnia & Herzegovina. FIRMA has principal offices in Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

FIRMA’s overall goal is to help BiH improve “the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the European Union”, a critical component of the Copenhagen Economic Criteria for EU accession. FIRMA will do this by working with three sectors of the BiH economy: wood processing, tourism, and light manufacturing.  These three sectors, combined, comprise approximately one-fourth of BiH GDP and over one-third of its exports. 

While BiH has made economic progress in recent years, with technical assistance from USAID, Sida, and other donors, there are many areas in which the competitiveness of BiH e.nterprises remains unsatisfactory.  Many are learning how to compete, but many others are constrained by outdated...

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