Dr. Lagumdzija and Ambassador Yamazaki: Grant intended to support economic and social development of Bosnia and Herzegovina



On 26 February 2014, in Sarajevo, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Zlatko Lagumdzija and Ambassador of Japan to B&H Hideo Yamazaki signed and exchanged Notes on the implementation of the Grant of the Government of Japan between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of Japan for procurement of meteorological, medical and equipment for protection from natural disasters.   

Following the signing ceremony, Dr. Lagumdzija and Ambassador Yamazaki made statements and on that occasion expressed satisfaction concerning signing and exchange of Notes that made possible the implementation of the Grant of the Government of Japan.      

Dr. Lagumdzija thanked Ambassador Yamazaki and the Government of Japan for the Grant totalling 4.6 million KM which refers to technical equipment specified in the project and correspondingly equipment for monitoring meteorological phenomena as well as weather conditions monitoring equipment for airports, heliports, roads, railways and ports but also flood and high water waves warning systems. He also expressed his gratitude for overall assistance that the Government of Japan, as one of the largest donors and investors, provided to our country until the present day through numerous projects in various areas and emphasized that overall assistance amounted to more than 400 million Euros. He assessed as particularly important educational programmes and projects of sustainable development and stated his satisfaction due to the fact that Japan showed readiness to continue its support and engagement with regard to preparing new and more efficient programmes. Dr. Lagumdzija appraised that previous and future assistance of the Government of Japan can be a model of foreign assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also for a new approach of the European Union, because those are concrete projects intended for solving real problems of concrete people.

Ambassador Yamazaki pointed out that the Grant is provided to support economic and social development of Bosnia and Herzegovina by means of using a number of various products and equipment produced by small and medium enterprises in Japan as well as that purchased equipment will contribute to strengthening operational capacity in some of key institutions in B&H such as the Sava River Watershed Agency, the Adriatic Sea Watershed Agency, hydro-meteorological services of the Federation of B&H and Republika Srpska but also entity-level Civil Protection Administrations. At the same time, modern medical equipment will be donated to primary and secondary health care institutions which will contribute to improved quality and efficiency of health protection they provide.     

Beneficiaries of the project will be the Ministry of Security of B&H, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of B&H, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of B&H and the Ministry of Transport and Communication of B&H, with the consent of entity governments that applied for the Grant.