Members of Committee on Foreign Trade and Customs of House of Representatives of PABiH talked with members of Delegation of Committee on Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of National Assembly of Serbia

The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Trade and Customs of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH), Šemsudin Mehmedović, and the members of the Committee Mensura Beganović and Zaim Backović talked today with the members of the Committee on Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy of the National Assembly of Serbia who have been in a working visit to our country.

The Chairman of the Committee Šemsudin Mehmedović expressed his satisfaction with the visit of members of the Committee from the National Assembly of Serbia, and stressed that BiH is the most important foreign trade partner for Serbia and vice versa. However, as he said, the concrete steps should be taken in order to ensure that export coverage from BiH to Serbia is at higher level, as now it is at around 35%. According to Mr. Mehmedović, two countries should strive to ensure a full freedom of movement of goods and capital as they are both signatories to the CEFTA agreement.

The members of the Committee on Foreign Trade and Customs Mensura Beganović and Zaim Backović have emphasized that a number of open issues between two countries need to be addressed, especially when it comes to the cooperation in the field of wood and the construction industry, as well as the issue of the recognition of diplomas.

The members of the Committee Delegation from the National Assembly of Serbia, led by the Committee member, Snežana Paunović, have emphasized that there is much room for the improvement of the economic and political cooperation between two countries. According to Mrs. Paunović, the special attention should be paid to the reducing of the foreign trade deficit between two countries. Also, according to the members of the Delegation, all open issues regarding the economic cooperation between two countries should be forwarded to the competent ministries and the level of their implementation should be monitored.

Also, the members of the Delegation from the National Assembly of Serbia have presented the initiative of the Serbian president to create a common customs union of the Western Balkans countries, which, as they said, should enable the building of a strong economy in the countries of the region and will set their common position towards third countries.

The interlocutors also agreed that it is necessary that the Serbian authorities make additional efforts to ensure a greater degree of the freedom of movement of people and capital in the region of Kosovo. (end)