Employers’ and Foreign Trade Chamber Representatives in Meeting with Zvizdić

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BIH Dr. Denis Zvizdić talked today in Sarajevo with representatives of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BIH and Employers’ Associations of the Federation of BIH, Republika Srpska and Brčko District on challenges encountered by legal entities in their business making and on future cooperation. 

Employers’ representatives informed Chairman Zvizdić on problems in day-to-day operations. They emphasised a necessity of better cooperation of authorities, the Foreign Trade Chamber and employers’ associations in order to harmonise the Entity-level legal regulations and protect domestic production from possible fraud by foreign retail chains. They added that the state-level institutions need to ensure that domestic producers enjoy a treatment equal to that of foreign competitors in VAT collection on BIH commodities in transit. Employers’ representatives required from Chairman Zvizidć more flexibility in VAT collection from economic entities, for example to prolong the VAT collection deadline to end month from the current 10^th of month, which would certainly facilitate their business making.

They emphasised, as a needed step, soon launching of an economic-social dialogue at the BIH level and institutionalisation of cooperation of all level authorities and employers through establishing an economic-social council. 

Chairman Zvizdić agreed about the need to institutionalise cooperation between authorities and employers, adding that communication between government and employers must be a continuous one, to allow for timely institutional reaction and engagement in solving labour-related issues.

Chairman Zvizdić said that the Council of Ministers of BIH will work on finding modalities to encourage SMEs development, as an axis of employment, especially though incentives for opening of facilities for improved finalisation of products in metal and wood processing industries and agriculture. He said that although the economic diplomacy has been somewhat neglected thus far, it is an important area requiring improved cooperation of the BIH diplomatic-consular network and Foreign Trade Chamber.

The meeting was attended by the Foreign Trade Chamber President Bruno Bojić, President of the Union of Employers’ Associations of RS Dragan Škrebić, President of the Union of Employer’s of FBIH Sefudin Čenigngić, Manager of Employer’s Union of FBIH Mladen Pandurević, and President of the Employer’s Union of the Brčko District of BIH Ševal Suljkanović.

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