1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Balkan Economic Partnership Act . 2. Purpose and findings (a) Purpose The purpose of this Act is to support economic opportunity and political progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the creation of an enterprise fund that will provide financial investment and technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises. (b) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The United States has a strong interest in ensuring the gains in stability and reconciliation made since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995 are not overtaken by difficult economic conditions. (2) In 2014, protests broke out across Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of widespread frustration among the populace regarding the economy, which is currently experiencing an unemployment rate of more than 40 percent. (3) (A) A crucial element for economic progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina is robust growth among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have struggled to access necessary financing. (B) Although the private sector credit-to-GDP ratio in Bosnia and Herzegovina grew from 25 percent in 2001 to over 65 percent in 2008, it has failed to grow in the years since, and is significantly less than the average for advanced economies. (C) Bank lending, which grew similarly rapidly before 2008, has grown barely more than 1 percent per year since then. (D) International financial institutions and foreign-owned private investment funds active in Bosnia and Herzegovina have provided growth finance for larger companies and infrastructure project financing, but have not substantially invested in SMEs. (4) (A) Bosnia and Herzegovina’s demographic, income and geographic characteristics are promising for SME growth. (B) Bosnia and Herzegovina is a market of almost 4,000,000 people, whose per capita income has grown by almost 50 percent in less than a decade, and substantial growth remains in order to achieve income parity with its Balkan neighbor economies. (C) Bosnia and Herzegovina currently imports