The United States Agency for Development in Bosnia urged local authorities to simplify the country’s licensing procedures as the long and complex system in place hampers investors.

In a statement issued on Thursday, USAID announced the 4th Energy Summit which will take place from April 25th until the 27th in Neum, where experts and decision makers will discuss the topic.

A World Bank report that assesses how business-friendly 190 countries are in 2018, ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina at 166th place. The “Doing Business 2018” report, among other things, assesses the efficiency of issuing licenses.

Globally, licensing systems differ in complexity and efficiency. In some countries it takes a lot of paperwork and often years to obtain approval for construction while in others it is a simple process. The complexity and efficiency of the licensing process serves to indicate the overall business environment in a country, the statement said.

“In order to eliminate these obstacles and secure investment potential, we expect prompt action from decision-makers in order to simplify the licensing regime,” said Ognjen Markovic, Chief of Party of the USAID Energy Investment Activity project.

He said that the summit in Neum should produce key recommendations and possible solution for the problem.