EBRD annual meeting ends in Sarajevo

By Gokhan Ergocun

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ended its annual meeting Thursday in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

The event’s theme of “Connecting Economies for Stronger Growth,” focused on ways to "connect economies for strong growth and impact, both in the Western Balkans and beyond," according to its website.

About 3,000 experts, officials, businesspeople, environmental specialists and entrepreneurs discussed topics such as global trade, blockchain, digitization, tourism and migration.

Participants also tackled economic issues in countries, including Turkey, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Ukraine and Uzbekistan and agreements were signed for energy, transportation, agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) areas.

The next annual meeting will be held in London May 13-14, 2020.

Established in 1991 to facilitate reconstruction in Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War, to date the EBRD has since made investments worth over €130 billion ($145 billion) in around 5,200 projects.

As a leading institutional investor in Turkey, the EBRD has invested more than €11 billion ($12.3 billion) in 283 projects in the country since 2009.