New Czech Program of the Development Cooperation
On Friday, 19.04.2024. in the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in Prague the Session of the International Development Cooperation Working Group for Bosnia and Herzegovina was held. The reason for this meeting was the the draft of the Development Cooperation Program with BiH for the period 2025 - 2030. The main priorities of the Program are Water and Sanitation, Circular Economy and State Administration and Civil Society. This meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Petr Gandalovič, assistant minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
In the behalf of Erbez Consulting, Dr. Miljan Erbez was present at this meeting. In his speech, Dr. Erbez thanked the Czech Republic for the very significant assistance provided to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stated the importance of this aid for preserving many jobs and opening new ones, especially in the agro-food sector. He also thank to those engaged in preparation of this document, which showed their understanding the current situation and needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dr. Erbez also pointed out importance that agriculture and food industry are also discussed in the document. Dr. Erbez mentioned that those are very important branches of industry for BiH. It is also an important area for cooperation between our countries and especially market development. It is clear that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the record holder in the region for the import of Zetor tractors and heifers in recent years from Czech Republic, but also genetics market has also started to develop.
Further development of food industry and processing capacities will support not only increased employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also regarding the Copenhagen criteria and EU requirements for new member states and their competitiveness. It can be said that this is a very logical step after really excellent projects led by representatives of the State Veterinary administration (Státní veterinární správa), Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (Ústřední kontrolní a zkušební ústav zemědělský - ÚKZÚZ) and other institutions from the Czech Republic regarding food hygiene and achieving EU standards in this area. These projects have largely contributed to the preservation of the necessary standards for the export of poultry meat, milk and other products to the EU.
According to the data of Mr. of Gandalović, this support will amount to around €3 million annually. The meeting was attended by numerous actors in the field of development assistance from the Czech Republic, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, representatives of institutions and others.
