ABOUT US
USAID’s Partnership for Advancing Reforms in the Economy (PARE) is a two-
to four-year activity to assist the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with
its growing, unmet demand for targeted, timely technical assistance in the financial
services sector. This activity is designed to strengthen the regulatory framework
for the financial services sector, improve the financial administration of public
resources, and improve the enabling environment for private-sector investment and
growth.
USAID PARE’s flexible, demand-driven approach allows the project and its partners
to shift priorities and activities according to changing circumstances and financial
services sector’s developing obligations related to EU accession. The economic
reforms assisted by PARE will strengthen institutional capacity and assist BiH on
its path towards joining the European Union.
PARE’s approach remains focused on providing technical assistance that: (1)
increases convergence, (2) has counterpart buy-in and ownership, (3) complies with
the Acquis Communautaire, (4) produces meaningful, measurable results,
and (5) builds donors synergies.
USAID PARE has achieved significant impact in Year 1, paving the way for successful
completion of project objectives across all three components. However, the emergence
of the crisis in BiH’s financial sector and the delays in the European Union
(EU) accession process both brought increased challenges and broadened the scope
of PARE’s activities. The project’s well-established and cooperative
partnership with key partners and stakeholders proved to be an asset in realizing
the project’s objectives, as counterparts actively used the demand-driven
mechanism to seek resolutions to the new challenges they face.
Component 1- Strengthen Regulatory System for Financial Services Sector
PARE’s Component 1 aims to help create a single economic space in BiH by achieving
convergence between the entities’ institutional regulations following to European
Union principles, standards and best practices.
Component 2- Improve Financial Administration of Public Resources
PARE’s Component 2 aims to improve the management of public resources in BiH
by strengthening the impact of internal and external public sector audit mechanisms.
Assistance aims to strengthen financial administration of public resources in BiH,
as well as to strengthen the ability of the media and other stakeholders to effectively
communicate audit findings.
Component 3- Improve Enabling Environment for Private Sector Investment
PARE’s Component 3 is focused on partnering with BiH private and public sector
counterparts to create a better environment for effective financial intermediation,
including establishing or building capacity of associations in the real estate,
leasing, factoring and other segments within the financial services sector.
