FIRMA Quarterly Report #7 - 2011

The purpose of the project is to support enterprise competitiveness in selected value chains of the tourism, wood, and light manufacturing sectors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the process advancing the country's ability to meet the Copenhagen Economic Criteria for accession to the European Union. To support sustainability, the project works primarily through a group of key local implementing partners, known as the "FIRMA Consortium", who cover all regions of the country. The goals of USAID and Sida for FIRMA are ambitious and transformational, requiring wide impact in product design and quality, in ways of connecting to markets, in expertise of workforce, and in investment attractiveness. FIRMA's strategy is directed toward these systemic objectives. The FIRMA workplan is defined at the private sector value chain level, with implementing partners organizing stakeholders to identify and prioritize competitiveness obstacles through value chain analysis, and then to originate and manage discrete activities to address these obstacles. During the seventh quarter of FIRMA's operation, March-May 2011, noteworthy accomplishments included support for the INTERIO 2011 Trade Fair in Sarajevo, the most important trade fair of the year for the wood and furniture industry in BiH. FIRMA supported the exhibition of BiH furniture producers on 550 sq. meters, the largest ever, and companies recorded over 400 new contacts, expecting a 15% increase in sales this year as a direct result of the fair. FIRMA also promoted and supported side events, including a B2B, a seminar on furniture markets and production trends, an employment fair, and a design competition. In addition, FIRMA sponsored the fourth Joint Annual Forestry Conference, in collaboration with the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber, attended by 40 representatives of principal forestry stakeholders in the country. Presentations covered the World Bank-supported State Forestry Inventory, current government forestry programs, sustainable forest management and certification, illegal logging prevention, and recommendations and findings from the recently-completed Sawlog Market Assessment published by FIRMA. FIRMA also provided administrative and consulting support to the World Bank's international mission for the Forestry Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (PEIR), covering all publicly-owned forest management companies in BiH. FIRMA supported training and certification of 44 lead auditors for Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification, in collaboration with the BH Chamber system and the EBRD BAS consulting assistance program. These accomplishments demonstrate FIRMA's commitment to supporting enterprise competitiveness and advancing Bosnia and Herzegovina's ability to meet the Copenhagen Economic Criteria for accession to the European Union.