Minister Košarac Sent a Letter to Embassies and International Organizations on the Need to Coordinate Donor Assistance to the Tourism Sector

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Staša Košarac sent a letter to Embassies and International Organizations accredited in BiH to provide available information on planned donations, activities and projects in the tourism sector, which is facing the most serious problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter was sent to the Embassies of Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the EU Delegation to BiH, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, and the United Nations Development Program and the German Organization for International Cooperation.

Minister Košarac pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic completely thwarted the growth trend of tourism in BiH and that in this sector there were layoffs, inability to repay loans and settle current liabilities, but also complete unpredictability of further development of the pandemic.

"The reactions of the competent authorities will also depend on the development of the epidemiological situation, but it is quite certain that the consequences will be huge, and the recovery will be long-lasting," warned Minister Košarac.

He pointed out that the competent institutions in BiH, primarily the Entitities’ Governments, within their capabilities, have taken certain economic measures to mitigate the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I fully support the efforts of the Governments of the Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH to cope with the consequences of the coronavirus on the entire economic sector. In accordance with the competencies of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH in performing duties and tasks related to defining policy, basic principles, coordination of activities and harmonization of plans of Entities’ Authorities and Institutions at the international level and in the field of tourism, and especially appreciating your exceptional material and moral contribution to development tourism in BiH, I kindly ask you to provide us with the available information on planned donations, activities and projects in the tourism sector as soon as possible ", said Minister Košarac in the letter.

Recalling a number of projects that are individually implemented throughout BiH, he warned of the lack of coordination of information both between donors and between the competent institutions in BiH.

''By gathering this information, our goal is to enable all stakeholders in this chain to be informed about all activities. In these difficult times, the timely availability of information makes it much easier to resolve problems. The strength of success is in the synergy of all available tangible and intangible capacities ", said Minister Košarac.