In organization of BDC of BURCH University The Fifth Jubilee Forum on Domestic Production Was Successfully Held in Neum

This year, the main partner in organization was Student club of IPI Academy Tuzla. This year’s panel discussion topic was “Through Exporting to a Stronger Economy”. Forum on Domestic Production is a unique opportunity to raise the awareness of citizens, mainly young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, about the importance of buying domestic products, and this time exporting them to other countries as well.

Sponsors and institutions that supported the realization of Forum show the influence of the Forum itself, and some of them are: Foreign Exchange Chamber of BiH, Chamber of Commerce of Tuzla Canton, association “Buy and Use Domestic: Quality Produced in B&H”, Tourist Board of Hercegovačko-neretvanski Canton and the municipality of Neum. The support was also given by Prof. Dr. Damir Marjanović, rector of Burch University, and Dr. Bruno Bojić, vice-president of Foreign Exchange Chamber of BiH, who, in their addressing, highlighted the importance of this event, especially the fact that it was organized by students. Sponsors that gave their support and, as dr. Bruno Bojić said, helped not just the students, but themselves as well are: Zira, Tehnograd Company, Hoše komerc, Vispak, Off Set Tuzla, Jelovica, Netlab Jelah, BH Investment Co, Vegamix and Ljaljić Tours.

The main part of this year’s Forum was the panel discussion, which was lead by Ms. Tanja Alavuk, a journalist from Al Jazeera Balkans. Participants of the discussion were Lejla Pljevljak-Rašidagić (ZIRA Ltd.), Aida Zubčević (Faveda Ltd.), Nusret Duranović (Herceg Ltd.) and Azra Sarić (Mistral Technologies). Representatives of Zira and Mistral, as opposed to the representatives of Herceg and Faveda, tried to present the importance of exporting in the world of information technologies, which actually represents the most significant aspect of IT companies in B&H.

During the discussion, the participants talked about the beginnings of exporting for each company, what is necessary for good exporting process, and what are the challenges faced by the companies. As Ms. Sarić said, volonteering and networking is imporant for every job, mostly the one in which a company leaves the market of its own country and tries to start something in the foreign one. Ms. Pljevljak-Rašidagić continued by saying that this is made difficult in the IT sector as speed and efficiency are very important.

During the discussion, the owner of Faveda, Ms. Zubčević, mentioned that one thing that stimulated her to begin with expoting was her wish to make her story grow further and to  export the fact that we should not export raw materials rather partially finalized products.

One of the main conclusions of the discussion is the consent of all panelists that the B&H market is advancing and will continue to grow and improve in the upcoming years. One of the reasons is precisely the IT sector, which carries great potential for strengthening B&H economy.

International Burch University is grateful to the Neum Municipality and Hotel Sunce for the hospitality and unselfish support of this year’s Forum on Domestic Production.