Taner and Alma have been a couple since then, they live in Zug and have two daughters. They are both financial experts and both their professional and private life is directly related to several projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

''We basically live for half a year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and half a year in Switzerland, are all the time traveling and are always facing new business challenges, and I think that both of us like that'', Taner Aličehić explains his ''life on the move'' with palpable enthusiasm.

SEE Investment Solutions, Taner's private company in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a finance and investment company and has five permanent employees in Sarajevo. In Switzerland, his second private company is part of the Real Estate Investment Solutions AG, which also provides strategic consultancy services to investors and financial capital for serious projects that are in search of investors.

''The persons who work and manage the company in Sarajevo are well informed about all economic trends and are in search of projects that might be interesting for investors'', explains Taner Aličehić. ''Once we have a concrete case, which is realistic and can be presented to the business community in Switzerland, with a clear and safe return on investment, we start searching for the financing model. We were working on the privatisation of some banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the privatisation and take-over of certain companies, such as ABS Bank, OBN TV, Opressa – all of these were projects that could demonstrate a certain economic potential and also the potential of the developing Bosnian and Herzegovinian society. It is not difficult to find investors if you have a clear story and if investors are provided all the data they are interested in''.

The company SEE Investment Solutions started a cycle of public institution financing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a pioneer endeavour that outlines new potentials and financing models in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tešanj Municipality was the first successful public institution financing project. It had designed an industrial zone project and was searching for investors.

''We ensured two million KM for Tešanj Municipality, which was the amount needed to open the industrial zone, and they really used the money well, they completed everything on time and repaid the investment'', explains Taner Aličehić. ''All of that inspired some other, similar projects. Now, there is a similar project with Sarajevo Canton. And I am stressing again, it is really not difficult to raise money, if the persons are responsible, if the project is clearly defined and if it contains all the elements needed by an investor''.

Alma Palo Aličehić provides business consultancy services to associations that would like to open an office in Switzerland. After her MA studies in Business Management in Chicago, Alma worked for several years at Northern Trust, one of the leading US banks. Alma is also a trust and estate practitioner (TEP), and she has been working in the field of trust management for the past eight years.   

In addition to a series of professional activities that she has been implementing with her husband in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alma is also managing a charity foundation La Terra Nostra, which she established in 2012. ''Both Taner and I believe that there are so many things that can be done in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Everyone should stop criticising and should start acting instead. That is the only way to change things in Bosnia and Herzegovina''.

Alma and Taner ensured the funds for the first humanitarian activities of the foundation La Terra Nostra by organising charity dinners: ''The first charity dinner was organised to raise funds for a free-of-charge kindergarten for 30 children in Mostar, for 6 months. The second charity dinner enabled us to establish an SOS family centre in Srebrenica, which is now available to all citizens in Srebrenica and the nearby villages. There are contact persons at the SOS centre, who are always available and willing to help families and meet the needs of their children.These are two quite big projects, which we managed to prepare in such a short time'', explains Alma,'' and I have to say that we really did not think that everything would go so fast and smoothly. The Swiss and Bosnians and Herzegovinians were really willing to participate in these actions and donate funds. We also have private donors, but both Taner and I are also investing our own funds in the foundation. I cooperate with other foundations, too, and it is very positive that there is networking and that we are jointly planning activities and projects, because this enables us to achieve more goals''.

The foundation La Terra Nostra is supporting several returnee families in Srebrenica, whose children obtained scholarships to continue their education. In cooperation with Matica BiH, we also supported Bosnian and Herzegovinian artists to participate in Venezia Biennale 2016. The foundation La Terra Nostra supports the Summer School Stolac, female leaders and young leaders in all economic sectors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially women in rural areas, who are active in their communities.

Taner Aličehić arrived to Switzerland with his parents in 1974. He holds a master's degree from EPFL in Lausanne, and he also holds a degree in Business and Finance from HEC MBA and CIIA University in Geneva. He explains that the decision to start a business in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a conscious and well-planned decision: ''I decided to use the money I earned during the studies and start a business in Bosnia and Herzegovina, simply to get the relevant experience in a simple economy at the micro level. I believed that it could be useful and interesting. What I did not know was that the fact that I was the first to do it would lead to many other things in my profession. As one of the first actors in the emerging market in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was able to get into contact with all actors that were of importance in the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I started this with my partner, who decided to leave Switzerland and live in Sarajevo, a new business that did not exist at all in this region. Bosnia and Herzegovina had left the socialist system, but it lacked the tools needed for a functioning capital market. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have direct contact to all relevant stakeholders, and I can directly discuss issues with them and transfer the knowledge needed for new market regulations''.

Since the very beginning, employees of SEE Investment Solutions have participated in the development of legislation applicable to the establishment and regulation of a new capital market in Bosnia and Herzegovina: ''I am glad to be able to help with my know-how and experience from Switzerland. We are also the founders of Sarajevo Stock Exchange. We were really a group of people that participated at the very beginning in defining the whole capital market concept, which is the backbone of economy in developed countries. We worked on a World Bank project regarding training of economists, supervisory board members, on how to attract and investors and raise money in the market by complying with corporate responsibility. That was the beginning of our platform in 2004 and 2005.Personally, I came to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006, when the Swiss Government started the acquisition of Vakufska Bank and offered me to work on the development of the bank''.

Taner explains the goals of his engagement as follows: ''Our first goal was to build a platform that would be managed by persons who are able to be the change we expected to see in the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second goal was to prove that our teams were able to implement large projects, that we could build trust and bring foreign investors to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The third goal was to create a state apparatus that could ensure capital market regulations and financing through such a market''.

Alma Palo Aličehić adds: ''Our intention was to transfer our knowledge to economists and politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, our knowledge acquired here, in a developed economy. I am at a stage of my life where I think not only that we should act, but we have to. We cannot simply ignore the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I wish to help my country, since I am able to do so''.

Another successful business activity of Taner Aličehić is bond financing. Over the past five years, a series of projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina were successfully implemented in this way, which also required the amendments to some regulations regarding the financial capital market. 

''Many people also have negative experiences or unfulfilled expectations regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, but I think that we should initiate new activities. Our examples show that it is possible to do something successfully'', says Alma Palo Aličehić.

Taner and Alma are using every free moment to spend time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they believe that it is also very important for their daughters: ''Our children should not lose their language and identity, but we cannot force them to be Bosnians and Herzegovinians, we can only give them a chance to experience the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We spend time in Mostar, Sarajevo, Srebrenica, you know, we feel like home everywhere we work, if there is pluralism of opinions, love and everyone is welcome, no matter what their name is''.