Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Stasa Kosarac sent a letter to embassies and international organizations accredited in BiH to provide available information on planned donations, activities and projects in the tourism sector, which is facing the most serious problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter was sent to the embassies of Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the US Delegation to the EU Delegation in BiH, the Swiss Cooperation for Development, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination, and the United Nations Development Program and the German Organization for International Cooperation, Avaz news portal reports.
Minister Kosarac pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic completely thwarted the growth trend of tourism in BiH, and that in this sector there were layoffs, inability to repay loans and settlement of current obligations, but also complete unpredictability of further development of the pandemic.
“The reactions of the competent authorities will also depend on the development of the epidemiological situation, but it is quite certain that the consequences will be huge, and the recovery will be long-lasting,” warned Minister Kosarac.
He pointed out that the competent institutions in BiH, above all, the entity governments, within their capabilities, have taken certain economic measures to mitigate the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Recalling a number of projects that are individually implemented throughout BiH, he warned of the lack of coordination of information both between donors and between the competent institutions in BiH.