The annual meeting of the Restart project, established by the Bosnian-American Friendship Association (BAFA) and SEEBA, was held on 29 May 2018 at Digital Business Space in Sarajevo.

Randal James Puljek Shank, Adnan Berberović, Edin Forto, Kasey Vannett, Nura Eston, Salih Musić, and Aiša Telalović evaluated the current project status, agreeing on the plan for future activities.

The organization was discussed in detail of the Restart’s Annual Networking Event “Building Bridges: Diaspora and BiH Entrepreneurs for Business Development of BiH” on August 9, 2018, in Sarajevo. We will implement this event in partnership with the USAID’s “Diaspora Invest” project. The aim of the event is to enable BiH entrepreneurs and potential investors from the BiH diaspora to get acquainted with each other and build profitable, mutually beneficial business relationships. Each participant – both current or potential entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina – will have an opportunity to deliver his/her five-minute business plan pitch to potential partners from the diaspora. More details and a call for participants to register to follow.

Restart plans to continue to carry out the activities within the Diaspora Invest project, which includes enhancement of the support platform www.diasporainvest.ba for networking with the diaspora, as well as a production of video stories focusing on investors and their projects in BiH.

The winners of the Leader BiH business training program, which took place from May 7-19, 2018 in Sarajevo, will have the opportunity to present their business plans to potential investors this year at the international conferences hosted by CANSEE in Belgrade on June 22, BAFA-Restart in Sarajevo on August 9 and at Macedonia2025 in Skopje on November 9.

The Leader BiH business training program is a Restart-led initiative, in cooperation with the Ivey Business School, one of the most reputable MBA schools in the world. This initiative has grown since its inauguration last year – while showing increased interest amongst professionals in BiH. Leader BiH 2018 was also supported by key individuals and organizations, including that of Milan Dunovic, Vice President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as SEEBA Stockholm.

Out of the three winning business plans presented within the Leader trainings in Sarajevo, Skopje and Belgrade in May 2018, the best Leader regional business plan will be selected at the Macedonia2025 conference in Skopje on November 9, 2018. The regional Leader project is financially supported by the Belgrade-based Western Balkans Fund.

The meeting concluded that Restart wants to establish itself as a credible key partner to international development agencies by participating in the implementation of projects aimed at enhancing the overall economic system.