BH Economic Forum 2019

The BH Economic Forum of Bosnia 2019, organized by the Faculty of Economics at the University of Sarajevo and the Economic Institute, was held on Monday, 25 February 2019 in the Congress Hall of the Holiday Hotel.

After the opening address by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Dr. Jasmina Selimović, UNSA Rector and the Special Representative and Head of the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lars Gunnar Wigemark addressed the audience. The Forum was opened by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dean Selimović spoke in an introductory address on the economic situation in BiH with a view to the position of young people. On this occasion, she compared the situation of young people in BiH with their peers in Austria and the region. She presented data on unemployment in BiH, especially young educated people. The previous two forums, according to her, have already resulted in certain proposals and solutions that can be found in the official documents of the legislative and executive authorities, in their policies and the directions they have identified.

Rector Škrijelj pointed out that the organization of such forums offers the opportunity to review the broader economic perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and enable stronger linkage of authorities with companies and the academic community in order to create better developmental, economic and educational policies, while creating better business conditions. He emphasized the fact that at this moment Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have a fund for the development of science and technology, which shows the obvious lack of the real strategy of the country's stronger development, therefore, on behalf of the University of Sarajevo, invited the most responsible officials in BiH to urgently approach the formation of a national foundation for the development of science and technology, as well as businessmen to support this foundation, which in the future should be a powerful driver of scientific, technological and economic development of BiH.

In addition to the competitiveness of Bosnia and Herzegovina and countries in the region, the topics of this year's Economic Forum were the economic cooperation between Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the improvement of the business environment.
The first session, traditionally, was dedicated to the topic “Competitiveness of Bosnia and Herzegovina and countries in the region“, and the moderator was Prof. Dr. Zlatko Lagumdžija. As part of this panel, through the video link, Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, one of the most prominent economists in the world addressed the audience.
The interest of the interesting session "Economic Cooperation between Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Challenges and Chances" was moderated by the Ambassador of BiH to the Republic of Austria and Professor of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Dr. Kemal Kozarić.
Director of Wienerberger/Tondach in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prof. Dr. Jasmin Hošo was the moderator of the third session on the topic “Improving the Business Environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

The Economic Forum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been held for the third year in a row and has so far gathered more than 1000 participants, mostly representatives of the BiH authorities, as well as more than 600 representatives of regional companies, the diplomatic sector and the academic community.