Minister Sarovic with Swedish Princess Victoria

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH participated today in a high-level event, "Smart Growth for the New Climate Reality", attended by the Swedish Princess Victoria.  

Minister Sarovic thanked Sweden, as BiH's largest donor in the field of environmental protection, and expressed the hope that partnership cooperation would continue, not only in this area but also in others.

"Thanks to this support, and the Kingdom of Sweden in general, BiH has changed for the better and is practically a better place to live," the minister said, adding:

"The extent of the damage caused by climate change was felt by BiH in 2014 in the catastrophic floods that hit our country, nearly half the territory. Damages amounted to several billion euros, we lost several lives, which is the biggest tragedy. And in these difficult times for BiH, assistance and support during the floods and beyond 2014, came from the Swedish Government, and was extremely significant. "

The Minister emphasized that the current projects, worth over ten million dollars and implemented with the support of Sweden, relate to the areas of cleaner air, waste management and disposal, and the development of multi-level strategies and development plans.

"These documents will help BiH to build its institutional and professional capacity, which is especially important for the business environment and will direct BiH in its most important way, namely the EU membership"

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden together with Minister Sarovic, Edita Djapo, Minister of Environment and Tourism of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srebrenka Golic, Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska and Sinisa Milic, Mayor of Brcko District, participated in the tree planting in Kosevo Park to mark the beginning of the preparation of the Environmental Strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2030.