About BFC SEE

Business Friendly Certification South East Europe (BFC SEE) is a unique program for improving the quality of services and information that municipalities in the SEE region offer to companies. BFC SEE provides municipalities with a clear roadmap for creating a favorable business environment and introducing internationally recognized standards of efficient and transparent local administration.

For investors looking to move or expand their operations in South East Europe, BFC SEE serves as a standardized tool for assessing the local conditions for doing business, indicating which municipalities in the region provide the best investment climate.

Partners for success

With the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Open Regional Fund for Modernization of Municipal Services, the BFC SEE Program was launched by a network of partner institutions from the region with the goal of establishing common standards and a seal of quality for the business environment in municipalities and cities of South East Europe.

With the support of EBRD in 2019 the existing BFC SEE Network has started initiative to establish the Western Balkans Business Friendly Environment Platform, as a regional organisation with a founding Charter in the form of an international treaty/legal act between its founding members. The Platform will have a clear legal basis, roles and responsibilities of its members, governing and operational structures, as well as a sustainable financing plan. The mission and key objectives of the Platform, which will be defined in its establishing acts and statutes, will include business friendly certification of LSGs and enhancing regional and local competitiveness through sharing experiences and developing Centers of Excellence in the region.

BFC SEE has been implemented since 2012, more than 100 local governments from the region have joined the program, 63 of them being certified as business friendly.