This awareness seminar on the cross-border programmes Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – Serbia was organized December on 13^th 2007 in the premises of Brcko District Chamber of Commerce. The organization of the meeting was highly supported by the Brcko District Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Mirko Cosic), Government of Brcko District and the Regional Development Agency for the North –East BiH economic region (NERDA).

Different institutions (Municipalities, NGOs, and Chambers of Commerce, etc.) were invited and in total 14 representatives participated. The event was well covered by the local media (TV, newspapers and radio). The presentations were followed by questions and answers.

Objectives:

The objective of this awareness seminar was not only to familiarize the potential applicants in Brcko District region with cross-border programmes and the concept of the cross-border project but also to introduce them to the possibilities, opportunities and at the end benefits from the implementation of these programmes for them, their institutions/organizations and their region.

Mr. Mirko Cosic, Head of the Brcko District Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Amra Abadzic Head of the sub-department for economic development, Government of Brcko District, and Vlado Pijunovic from CBIB Sarajevo officially opened the seminar.

Three presentations were made:

• Introduction to IPA and IPA Component II: Cross-border programmes 2007-2013 f Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Serbia, presented by Nada Bojanic acting Head of the Department for regional cooperation and CBC programmes, Directorate for European Integration for Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Regional project for Cross-border Institutional Building – CBIB and its activities in the Western Balkan region, presented by Vlado Pijunovic from CBIB Sarajevo office;
• What is a cross-border project (type of projects, type of partners, budget and eligible costs,  call for proposal), presented by Maja Stojanovic from CBIB Belgrade office;

The presentations were followed by questions and answers.

Conclusions and Lessons Learned:

The organizers consider this event as a full success. The participant of the seminar showed great interest in the presented topics and most of the participants expressed interest for participation in future trainings and seminars. The great interests of the participants show that IPA CBC raises many expectations in the region. Information is in a high demand and it is certainly not too early to organize such events.