Helez visits the USA: Held a meeting with the founders of the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Cooperation Council

(Patria) - On the first day of his working visit to the United States of America, the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zukan Helez, met with Dr. Emir Nurkic, co-founder of the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council and operational director of the Institute for Development Impact, as well as Mr. Adnan Hadrovic, advisor for diplomacy, international relations, and global security at the same institute and also a co-founder of the aforementioned Council.

In April 2023, during a previous visit to Maryland, Minister Helez presented letters of intent to the Deputy Governor regarding the expansion of cooperation between Maryland and BiH – from military to civilian forms of cooperation. Invitations were then extended to establish cooperation in the fields of higher education, healthcare, culture, and foreign trade. Representatives of Maryland stated at the time that they were pleased that Minister Helez, as they said, "gave them homework" to raise cooperation to a higher level.

As a result of that visit, the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Cooperation Council was formed. In the meantime, representatives from Maryland have established contacts with universities in BiH, clinical centers, and a delegation from Maryland also visited the Sarajevo Film Festival.

At the meeting with Minister Helez, the key initiators of cooperation and founders of the Council informed him about concrete progress in developing cooperation. Special attention was paid to international cooperation in the field of education, and it is expected that universities from Banja Luka, Mostar, and Sarajevo will be included in the exchange. Preparations are underway to enable student exchanges in all fields, as well as the organization of scientific conferences in BiH, which Yale University is expected to participate in along with the University of Sarajevo.

Council representatives also highlighted the increased interest of the Maryland market in final products from the furniture and defense industries from BiH. They also informed Minister Helez that Maryland is willing to open a department at one of its faculties for the education of higher education staff in the field of crisis management in cases of natural disasters, which would further strengthen the civil protection system.

It was also announced that Council representatives will participate in the international conference of North American diaspora students, which will be held in Sarajevo in June.

At the end of the meeting, Council representatives expressed their readiness to organize Bosnia and Herzegovina Days in Maryland at the end of October, where scientific institutions and businessmen from BiH would meet with representatives of the academic and business sectors of Maryland to agree on concrete forms of cooperation. They also expect further support from the Deputy Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers and the BiH Minister of Defense in realizing this initiative.

Minister Helez thanked Mr. Hadrovic and Professor Nurkic for their immense energy, enthusiasm, and continuous support for Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling on domestic institutions and businesses to actively engage in the realization of initiatives led by the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Cooperation and Exchange Council.