A three-day Diaspora Day event was held in the municipality of Lopare (Republika Srpska, BiH) under the slogan “Our people are coming”, from July 23 to July 25 2021.
By 2021, 12 investors from the diaspora have invested in the municipality of Lopare. The tenth year of the event brought together businessmen who have invested in the municipality of Lopare, representatives of institutions and neighboring municipalities, as well as guests interested in following good practice of their compatriots. Mr. Rado Savić, Mayor of Municipality of Lopare and Mr. Savo Mitrović, President of the Association “Majevica”, welcomed all participants and stressed the importance of successful cooperation between local self-governments and diaspora associations that have made significant investments in their homeland.
As part of the event, a business forum was held under the auspices of the USAID project “Diaspora Invest“ on the topic “Why is municipality of Lopare the most successful in cooperation with the diaspora in Republika Srpska and BiH?” The panelilst were: Stojan Stevanović, “Kristal inžinjering”; “Hala Helvetia”; Vlado Antić, “Oktopus bazeni” Lopare; Dragan Jović, “Fruktum”; Radislav Đokić, “Đokić Metal”; Miloš Bošković, “Agrovisočnik” and Goran Novaković, “Pametni sistem”.
After the successful panel, Mr. Alijagić, Director of the Diaspora Business Center in BiH and representative of the USAID`s “Diaspora Invest“ project, gave a presentation of the Diaspora Investor Support Program. Representatives of the ICMPD project Link Up! Serbia II project, Mr. Damir Pejić, Manager of the Diaspora Business Hub in Serbia, presented the work of the Diaspora Hub, while Mr. Miša Ćirić emphasized the importance of promoting investments in the hometowns and through the organization of a summit in Switzerland in October 2021.
