Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) is a joint initiative of chambers of commerce and industry from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, which represents the interests of more than 350,000 companies, in its mission to connect the business community of the region and to provide a joint- voice to region’s businesses.
On occasion, five years from establishing the Common Regional Market in the Western Balkans, Western Balkan 6 Chamber Investment Forum, with the support of the European Commission, organizes an Open call for participation in the regional competition for companies from the WB6.
Award categories and criteria
Categories
Companies from the WB6 region will have a chance to apply in the following 6 categories:
I. Lead (champion) investor in Western Balkan countries – (1 award)
II. Company with highest export growth in the region for 2022 (6 awards – 1 per economy)
III. Environmental protection champion in the Western Balkans (6 awards – 1 per economy)
IV. Digital champion in the Western Balkans (6 awards – 1 per economy)
V. Successful supplier in the regional chain (1 award)
VI. Most innovative company in the Western Balkans (1 award)
Criteria
1. Concerning the category “Lead (champion) investor in Western Balkan countries”, company statements on the total size of investments in the specific Western Balkan country (naming one by one country) will be used as proof. Only investment(s) realized in the last five years will be considered. Investments in more than one of the WB6 countries will be considered an advantage.
2. Concerning the category “Company with highest export growth in the region for 2022”, companies are expected to submit a statement on their export, value, and growth to the Western Balkan countries (naming one by one country) comparing 2021 with 2022.
3. Concerning the category “Environmental protection champion in the Western Balkans”, companies that contributed the most in the area of environmental protection, in the last 3 years (2020, 2021, 2022), will be taken into consideration. Achievements in the implementation of the “Green Agenda” goals will also be taken into consideration. Statements from the companies will be used as proof.
4. Concerning the category “Digital champion”, companies that digitalized their operation the most in the last 5 years will be taken into consideration, that is, companies that introduced new digital solutions, digital tools that improved the efficiency and quality of the products/services.
5. Concerning the category “Successful supplier in the regional chain”, in the process of industrial production, the number of trade partners from Western Balkan countries, the number of contracts, and their value will be used as proof (in the last 2 years).
6. Concerning the category “Most innovative production company in the Western Balkans”, innovations that companies introduced in the last five years will be taken into consideration, that is, the development and commercialization process of an innovative product in the Western Balkan countries. The volume of investment in research in a new product is needed as proof, as well as a short description of the process of product development till the final product is developed and in which countries that product is already present (max. 300 words).
Applicants should be registered in one of the Western Balkans 6 economies: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia.
A Commission composed of one representative of each of the Western Balkan chambers of commerce and a representative of the CIF office, will review all of the applications and make a selection of the awarded companies in the given categories (21 in total).
The deadline for submitting applications is February 15th, 2023 at 16h.