Interview: BiH industrial city seeks foreign investment to deal with unemployment

Tuzla welcomes investment from outside to develop its economy, in a bid to reduce high unemployment rate, said Jasmin Imamovic, the mayor of Tuzla on Tuesday.

During an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Imamovic said Tuzla is eager to draw investment from other countries, especially in sectors such as energy, mining, and traffic facilities, etc.

Tuzla is well located to do business with a short distance to Croatia and Serbia, he said, recalling the "golden time" for its heavy industry in the past.

Tuzla, rich in minerals such as coal and salt, was selected to develop heavy industries in former Yugoslavia, with huge factories built.

After the Bosnia War in 1990s, however, many of the state-owned factories closed or were thrown into bad shape during the privatization process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), resulting in high rate of unemployment.

In February, 2014, hundreds of laid-off workers in Tuzla clashed with police, triggering the most violent protests in cities across the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

There are some 16,000 registered unemployed people in Tuzla, a city with a population of some 120,000, said Imamovic, adding his government is doing its best to create jobs.

Over the 2014 protests, Imamovic noted people have the rights to protest but it was wrong to set fire on public buildings.

Though facing difficult situation, Tuzla managed to develop and it has a solid foundation for economic recovery, said Imamovic, who became the mayor of Tuzla in 2000. He is also a writer acclaimed for some well-received books in the region.

Tuzla welcomed foreign investments and the local government will try its best to provide support, he said.

He mentioned the planned power plant to be built by a Chinese group, saying that Tuzla will do its part and make it a success. "Like every other investment, Chinese investment is welcomed here," said Imamovic.

In 2014, the Chinese consortium, which includes China Gezhouba Group and Guandong Electric power Design, won the bid to build a 450 megawatt coal-fired power plant worth over 1 billion U.S. dollars. Endit