EU to hold a forum on economic development in BiH in May!

The European Union will organize a forum in May with BiH authorities, international financial institutions, and experts to define the country's economic priorities, it has been confirmed to the BiH news agency Patria (NAP) from diplomatic sources.

This meeting will be one of the first activities of the European Commission's initiative for BiH called "Agreement for Development", which was supported yesterday in Luxembourg by the foreign ministers of the member states.

As stated to the Patria agency, this is an initiative that results from the urgent need to do something in the economic field in BiH. The EC has been preparing a strategy for the entire region concerning the economy for a long time, but in the case of BiH, a special package and an urgent initiative have been created.

The European Commission has drafted a plan of activities, which includes the economic forum to be held in May. After that, a list of concrete steps that BiH authorities should take will be compiled.

 

The spokesperson for the Delegation of the European Union in BiH, Andy McGuffie, confirmed to the BiH news agency Patria that the "Agreement for Development" initiative from Brussels includes discussions and the organization of a forum.

 

"The final 'Agreement for Development', i.e., the determination of the necessary measures in the economic sphere in BiH, falls under the overall EU initiatives aimed at helping the country in the area of economic governance, strengthening competitiveness, and stimulating economic growth," McGuffie told Patria.

 

According to him, after the EU Council supported the initiative yesterday, in the coming months, the EU will assist BiH institutions "in identifying concrete socio-economic structural reforms with the aim of reviving the country's modernization process".

 

"We intend to help organize the forum and dialogue, to help BiH implement the necessary social and economic reforms. The reasons for this assistance are well known. BiH's economy is in a difficult state. For example, BiH has the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe - 59 percent of the active population aged 15 to 24," McGuffie concluded.