News in English     | 19.11.2018. 17:30 |

Zvizdić: BiH remains dedicated to the Digital Agenda for Western Balkans

FENA Press release

VIENNA/SARAJEVO, November 19 (FENA) - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Zvizdić with the prime ministers of Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia, attended the 15th Vienna Economic Forum and the working session on the topic "Economy meets politics - regional cooperation as part of European integration - digitalization - overcoming gaps and a chance for a leap in development".

Zvizdić assessed that the changes brought about by the digital age, new digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet, are transforming all areas of life, from the economy, education, to politics and other spheres and at a very fast pace.

It would be difficult to respond to all these challenges individually, believes Zvizdić, which is why he believes that cooperation the at international and regional level, harmonization and complementary actions, are necessary for all societies to be a constructive part of the new digital age.

"Political responsibility lies in securing the necessary platforms, adopting policies and undertaking actions at all levels in order to primarily recognize the needs, and then respond adequately to the demands of individuals and societies, but also of business communities," said Zvizdić.

Chairman Zvizdić added that the integration of Western Balkan countries into the pan-European digital market is an important segment of regional cooperation, and recalled that the Western Balkans is geographically surrounded by EU member states, emphasizing that connecting the infrastructure between the EU and the Western Balkans, as well as accelerating the development in the field of digital services, is an important priority.

In May 2018, the European Commission launched the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, which is part of a comprehensive strategy for connecting a region whose future is in the European Union, and its goal is to support the transition of the region to the digital economy and bring the benefits of digital transformation , such as faster economic growth, more jobs and better services to citizens.

Zvizdić, therefore, says that the commitment to the Digital Agenda should ensure that citizens have skills that meet the demands of the new economy but also to help modernize public administration, strengthen cybersecurity, improve the business climate, and the like.

He stressed that BiH remains dedicated to the implementation of the Digital Agenda, in particular, investment in broadband connectivity, strengthening and developing digital infrastructure, increasing awareness of cyber security and strengthening cyberspace, in particular, the establishment of rapid response structures, cooperation between institutions and information exchange.

"I am glad that the results of the research for the countries of the Western Balkans have been encouraging. The results showed that a 10 percent increase in the digitalization index has had a positive effect on the economy through GDP growth of 0.63 percent in the Western Balkans," added Zvizdić.

He added that digitalization of the industry is not only the fastest growing trend, but also a very important source of development and innovation, and digital education is a very important segment in this process.

"We in BiH have done a lot in the past few years, but our citizens expect more fro us, so we still have a lot of work to do in otder to give our citizens better digital services," underlined Zvizdić.

He noted that the IT industry and startup environment in BiH is still in an early stage, "but I am glad to see that we have IT companies that provide services to large world companies. I especially want to single out startup companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina working for world giants like Google, Airbus, and others," said Zvizdić.

Zvizdić concluded in his address that the current state of digitalization of the Western Balkans is not at the European level, but joint efforts and work can contribute to the development of a single digital market in BiH and the region, stated the BiH Council of Ministers.

(FENA) S. R.

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