prijava
SARAJEVO, October 6 (FENA) - Problems of BiH economy need to be addressed systematically, is the common position of the participants in the conference on business challenges of BiH entrepreneurs, organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its project Workforce and Higher Access to Markets Activity (WHAM) which implements the IESC.
Continuous systemic cooperation of companies with formal educational institutions would enable bilateral harmonization of business needs in accordance with modern market requirements and the creation of dual education programs, which would result in a high level of employment of well-trained young people after graduation. This would ultimately mean quality production according to the high demands of the export market, but also the stay of young people in their country where they would be provided with a decent standard of living.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to many small and medium-sized enterprises, many of which accept international standards and supply approximately 71 percent of BiH's total exports to the EU. The challenges of workforce development that these companies face are obvious. USAID is committed and working, together with public and private sector partners, to overcome the current situation with a view to adequately addressing these challenges. Some of the answers are encouraging job creation by improving BiH's trade integration and expanding into EU and regional markets, and improving the education of the workforce and product quality to strengthen the BiH economy and thanks to adequately skilled workers," said Director of the USAID Mission in BiH Courtney Chubb.
USAID WHAM is a project that is currently achieving these goals in the sectors of metal processing, wood processing, ICT and textiles / footwear. Through this project, in collaboration with 234 companies, 58 municipalities, with more than 80 grants, USAID enabled the certification of 54 companies in accordance with EU standards, training or retraining of 1,901 people, of whom 608 are women and 1,159 young people, and new jobs for 1984 persons, of whom 615 were women and 1,071 young men.
(FENA) A. B.
