Member Article

Recent news reports from Bosnia tell us that the BiH government, represented by the federal prime minister for economic issues and investments, Suvad Osmanagic, paid a visit to Bihac with Ludovico Camozzi, the president and owner of Camozzi – an Italian company that produces industrial automation machinery.

The main purpose of this visit was to see Kombiteks, a textile production company that has been in bankruptcy and in and out of operation for the past 15 years. The Bosnian government has shown willingness to relaunch the production in this company – which used to hire around 4000 workers – by bringing over a partner into this venture in the form of Camozzi, whose specialty in automation machinery are textile machines. This visit has followed a six-month long period of intense negotiations with the Italian company, during which Camozzi expressed the desire to move its newest machines – so far only used in Milan – to BiH, as well as bring over Italian buyers for the yarn that should be produced by Kombiteks in the future.

Furthermore, having in mind that Bihac is home to a still functional Faculty of Textile, a continuous stream of educated workforce will be available to the new owners. It is thus reasonable to assume that Kombiteks' rejuvenated presence in this region would also provide a significant boost to the local economy through employment.