As component II of the European Union's new financial Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), this is the first cross-border programme  on the border between the pre-accession countries of the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the period 2007-2013.

The overall strategic goal for the programme recognises the need to stimulate the economies and reduce the relative isolation of the eligible area by strengthening joint institutional networks and the capacities of human resources.

The overall aim of the programme, with the core elements of the strategy derived from the SWOT analysis, have together led to the formulation of the following specific objectives, focussing on what needs to be achieved:

1. Strengthening the incentives for SME development in the border areas;
2. Development of tourism as a key sector of the border economy;
3. Promoting cross-border trade cooperation and accessibility to markets;
4. (Re-) Establishing cross border links between business and trade support organisations to promote joint cooperative initiatives;
5. Maintaining the high quality of the border area environment as an economic resource by cooperating in joint protection and exploitation initiatives;
6. Strengthening cross-border ‘people-to-people' interaction to reinforce ethnic, educational and cultural and sporting links and to share in joint areas of common interest.

Source: Website of the Programme as accessed in May, 2011.