The purpose of the meeting was to examine the advisability and, where practical, agree upon the establishment of new BiH-wide public corporations for the mutual benefit of the two Entities in four utility sectors.
There was agreement on the need to create a BiH Road Infrastructure Public Corporation (BRIC), whose main focus would be the development and maintenance of the major European road corridors traversing BiH. Commission members supported in principle a proposed draft agreement and instructed officials to finalise the document.
Commission members unanimously expressed their support for pursuing a joint public corporation for postal services in BiH, and instructed the postal working group to continue to develop a plan for a BiH-wide, joint postal public corporation.
It was also recognised that significant economic benefits could be derived from a dedicated public corporation for broadcasting infrastructure in BiH. However, Commission members were not yet in a position to agree on a suitable model. The Working Group was asked to continue with discussions and analysis, which includes site evaluations, and to return with conclusions regarding possible institutional solutions in a BiH-wide context.
Finally, the Commission discussed the situation in the gas utility sector, and agreed to establish a Working Group that would elaborate and evaluate various BiH-wide institutional options to achieve a greater degree of co-ordination, co-operation and transparency in the transportation and distribution of gas. A recently completed World Bank study on Restructuring the BiH Gas Sector will be used as a base reference.
Significant progress was made at this meeting towards achieving greater institutional co-operation in the utility fields which, as the High Representative underlined, is highly necessary at this stage of economic development and reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina.