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Bosnia 'ripe for money-making'
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina (CNN) -- Bosnia has struggled to rebuild itself in the seven years since armed conflict ended, but has opportunities to offer everyone, says High Representative Paddy Ashdown. Ashdown, 51, appointed in 2002, is responsible for the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord that ended four years of armed conflict in Bosnia. He was formerly the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in Britain and was an officer in the Royal Marines from 1959 to 1972. He describes his job as working with colleagues and partners "to put this country on the road to peace and stability. They do the work, but I am here to help and guide them and sometimes poke and prod them when we need to go a bit faster." But it will be tough process, despite the progress made so far. "We have to grow the economy. We've got to release that entrepreneurial spirit in Bosnia. We've got to do it very quickly. "We have to make sure that those refugees do continue to return home. We have to build a clean political space. We have to build a trusted legal space. We have to build a firm market-based economy. But those are all problems that we can deal with." Bosnia and Herzegovina has a gross domestic product of $7 billion, with a growth rate of 6 percent and unemployment at 40 percent. "There is real money to be made in this place," he told CNN. "Recognize that if you are a business person, and you are coming here now, you are coming in very early on the curve. It is cheap to establish businesses here ... or at least it is cheap to get labour here. Good, skilled labour, very high quality education, but relatively low prices to pay for it," he advises. "Ignore the odd bullet-marked building as you come in from the airport. We'll try and put those right as soon as possible." He lives in Sarajevo with his wife Jane, who feels safer on the streets of Sarajevo than in London. "It's a very beautiful country. It's also a very safe country. And so my hope and aspiration is that this country will continue to make fast progress that it has already made. "So that it can complete its journey from the devastation of one of the worst wars of the second half of the last century to a stable nation as a member of Europe." His advice to business travellers is to use a car rather than public transport as it is "a bit fractured at the moment." On the practical side, mobile phone coverage is as good as anywhere in Britain, credit cards are widely accepted and there are plenty of ATM machines.
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