Businessmen of the Federation of BiH on Mitigating the Consequences of the Coronavirus Pandemic

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - A meeting of representatives of the Association of Employers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chamber of Commerce of FBiH, and industrial sectors most affected by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide will be held today at the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The meeting will agree on proposals for conclusions and demands to the Government of the Federation of BiH, in order to at least partially mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the recession that is already present in the global economy, the Association of Employers of FBiH announced.

Companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been feeling the consequences of the pandemic for a long time, with problems in the procurement of goods and raw materials, and the situation culminated in the last 15 days with the escalation of the pandemic in the region and Europe.

BiH companies have problems with the realization of agreed contracts related to product exports, as Serbia has completely closed its borders, while Croatia is expected to do the same in the next day or two.

The tourism and hospitality sector is particularly affected, as the percentage of hotel booking cancellations is above 90 percent. The realization of previously announced and agreed projects is being canceled.

Since there are no indications that economic flows will normalize on the world market, it is high time for the authorities in FBiH and BiH to react and adopt a program of measures to help the economy.

"We want to act proactively and propose measures that will mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the stagnation in economic activities. If we do not react in a timely manner, everyone will feel the consequences – primarily the economy, but also employees, citizens, and budget users. Therefore, we believe that we should all participate together in creating measures and preventing economic collapse," say the UPFBiH.