The Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation of Republika Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, expects BiH to finally join the “Open Balkans” initiative this year, which would benefit the local economy and citizens.
“Political Sarajevo was against, while the FBiH-based entrepreneurs were for this initiative, which means open borders, easier flow of goods and services with the goal of entrepreneurs having better economic activities, which citizens would also feel,” Klokić stated in his SRNA interview.
He believes that by changing the political structures at the BiH level, the conditions are created to re-raise the issue of BiH’s accession to the “Open Balkans” initiative, which Republika Srpska has been interested in from the beginning.
“If Serbia and Albania were able to overcome some long-standing differences, why shouldn’t we in Bosnia and Herzegovina be able to turn to a good initiative that benefits both the citizens and the economy,” said Klokić.
He believes that the candidate status, which BiH received at the end of last year, brings certain opportunities, but that Srpska should be careful in that process and protect the competences given to it by the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of BiH.
When it comes to Srpska representative offices abroad, the line minister announced a detailed analysis and audit of their work, after which it will be possible to say which have fulfilled expectations and to what extent.
Klokić stated that one of the goals during his new term of office will be to improve the work of the representative offices of Republika Srpska, i.e. how to create a more rational and functional network of representative offices, of which there are currently eight.
He stated that in the coming period, he would also work on improving cooperation with the diaspora, and that he would like to implement certain projects that have proven successful in Serbia in Srpska.
“The Diaspora Registry is in operation, which allows our people, who live and work abroad, to be registered. This site does not serve as any kind of taxation, which was misinformation and speculation. The goal is to connect the diaspora with people in the mother country for mutual benefit, that the knowledge they acquire there can be transferred to the parent company, as well as investments. The website is a product of the two Diaspora Forums that we had in Banjaluka in 2018 and 2019,” Klokić pointed out.
Source: srna.rs
Foto: Siniša-Pašalić-RAS-Srbija
