The domain of  “Strengthening Capacity of Local Stakeholders”

These activities include provision of technical assistance to municipalities and other partners with the aim to strengthen their capacity to use funds from European programs and initiatives and other sources.

These activities include information dissemination, education of municipal development teams in PCM (Project Cycle Management), technical assistance in project proposal writing.

The domain of “Strengthening Competitiveness of the Region”

REZ activities are focused on following drivers of regional competitiveness: business environment,  promotion of entrepreneurship,  investment and export promotion, education and knowledge transfer, business development and growth.

In order to improve the business climate of the Central BiH REZ has developed competencies and instruments that support private sector development as carrier of local and regional economic development. The significant interventions are analysis, knowledge transfer and manual about establishment of business zones, web portal for investment promotion, start up programs, export promotion trainings and local export experts pool, business support trough business advising, education and linkages.

Moreover, REZ  Agency has initiated  establishment of innovative business infrastructure in the region like  technology park, testing laboratory for wood products.

The domain of “Human Resources and Employment”

Disagreement between the needs of the labor market and formal education has a major impact on the competitiveness of the private sector and the unemployment rate.

In cooperation with all stakeholders, REZ Agency coordinates various programmes of qualification and pre-qualification for the unemployed, mostly young people, based on the needs of private companies and affecting the increase in employment.

REZ Agency has developed various training programmes, providing them with the goal of improving skills in the private sector in business planning, export promotion, production technology and networking.

The domain of “Interregional Cooperation”

The Central BiH Region has limited access to programs under IPA cross-border cooperation, and only limitetd number of the Cross-border Co-operation Programmes is available for the area, such are “Croatia-BiH” or “Croatia-BiH-Montenegro”. However, in addition to the IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme, there are different territorial, bilateral and multilateral programs with certain countries. REZ Agency plays an active role in the implementation of the cross-border cooperation which is aimed at building networks to develop good practice and facilitating the exchange and transfer of experiences with successful regions.

The capacities built so far are crucial for a new approach to EU assistance in the period 2014-2020, as well as the implementation of macro-regional strategies.