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POZNAN/SARAJEVO, July 5 (FENA) - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Denis Zvizdić is taking part in the Summit of Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans (WB6 + EU8) in the Polish city of Poznan.
At the Summit, being held within the framework of the Berlin Process, a package of three investment projects in the field of transport has been approved to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is a grant in the amount of EUR 96.8 million for the sections of the motorway on the Corridor Vc (parts of the sections Vukosavlje-Doboj, Zenica north-Žepče South and Žepče South-Doboj South). The total value of these three projects is EUR 433.39 million.
In his address to the participants, Zvizdić said that the EU membership remains for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole region a path that has no alternative, and that the perspective of membership is an incentive for all reform processes in society, public administration and economy.
He emphasized that the full integration of the Western Balkans is in the best interest of the continent and that it is necessary to keep the momentum of enlargement based on regional cooperation, good neighborly relations and the principle of individual merits. He added that, although the countries in the region are at different phases of reform and development, they share a common trait, they are below the European standard of development.
Therefore, it is necessary that the countries of the Western Balkans join forces in order to overcome this gap and provide citizens with a higher standard of living, better social and health protection, better education and a more equitable distribution of social wealth, or otherwise they will face social and political instability, said Zvizdić.
Zvizdić said that good political cooperation, political stability and economic reforms are the basic preconditions for overcoming the main problems in the Western Balkans, and that the common market is much more attractive to investors if it is not divided by national borders.
He highlighted the urgent need for expanding connectivity within the region, as well as between the region and the EU.
Zvizdić added that connectivity needs to be understood in a much broader sense than infrastructure construction and that it must include business and digital connectivity, cultural exchange and youth, thereby increasing the region's ability to compete in the global market.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina applied with the largest number of investment projects and received the highest amount of grants within the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for 2019, worth around 118 million euros.
Zvizdić emphasized that WBIF in BiH has so far supported 25 projects worth an estimated value of 3.3 billion euros.
“With deeper economic integration, we send a clear political message, which shows that expansion of cooperation and overcoming open problems are in the best interest of all of us,” said Zvizdić.
He welcomed the European Commission's plan to update and strengthen the Investment Framework for the Western Balkans in the coming period, putting the focus on the environment and sustainable energy sources, and stressed that co-financing projects within the Connectivity Agenda and the Regional Economic Area are of great importance for the countries of the region.
(FENA) S. R.
