The deficit in the foreign trade exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina with other countries, measured in billions of convertible marks, opens the issue of purchasing domestic products and strengthening the domestic economy. In order for domestic producers to be more competitive, they need support through the purchase of domestic products. Barcode 387 and labeling of products produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina in our stores can be a tool to keep money in the country and be used to create new jobs. How to make it easier for citizens to recognize domestic products?
We import more than we export
We import almost everything, we export much less. We are regularly in deficit. In the first seven months of the current year alone, the deficit exceeded eight billion marks. It is a figure that calls for a reaction on the home field. Strengthen domestic production. The recipe is simple – buy homemade.
“If you take a domestic product, all the money stays in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnians and Herzegovinians have to see where the budgets are filled, where the roads are built from. They have to know this math even in elementary school – that everything they buy, which is produced in a production plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has an impact on roads, education, hospitals, etc., and not that we have foreign products in our cash register baskets and whine that nothing works in this country”, Mirsad Jašarspahić points out. President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Homemade products are not always a choice
Domestic products are not always the first choice of customers. Habit, trend or price, the reasons vary from customer to customer. And sometimes products from Bosnia and Herzegovina remain on the shelves because they are not visible enough.
“The activities of these promotional performances to buy domestic products are limited because, in essence, this would be one of the protectionist measures and according to the Free Trade Act, this is not acceptable. We would probably receive warnings, but I think that despite this, a way can be found to bring the domestic product closer to the consumers,” explains Gordana Bulić, president of the Tuzla Canton Consumer Club.
The application makes the choice easier
Such a calculation requires a change in consumer awareness. Campaigns with this aim are carried out continuously, and there are also applications that promote domestic products. New among them is “Biraj 387”, created as a result of the need to make it easier for customers to find products from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The application recognizes all foreign products, no matter which country they come from, and offers a domestic product from the same category for each one. Very often, that same domestic product is, moreover, perhaps better, of higher quality and cheaper than a foreign product, and at the same time the money stays with us, our workers and our companies,” said Anel Kahrić, creator of the “Biraj 387” application.
Support for the domestic economy
This is the path to more stable domestic companies that lead to a stronger economy, which in turn leads to a stronger state.
“It is very important that citizens buy local products. I can also appeal to all citizens. The Ministry, headed by me, invests huge amounts of money every year to help the economy, to be competitive, for our producers to offer our consumers the highest quality, cheapest products possible so that they are more available on the shelves of our markets”, said Kemal Hrnjić, Minister of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Support is slowly waking up.
That the choice of domestic products is important for supporting the domestic economy, a growing number of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are becoming more and more aware. Customers cite various reasons why they prefer domestic products when purchasing – from quality and health to the awareness that by purchasing domestic products, domestic producers, workers and the economy are supported:
“I only buy domestic, only domestic.” “And we should buy local, local is healthier.” “I only buy local products in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” “We buy everything from Bosnian products.” “Everything that is consumed is mainly domestic.” “We choose domestic, since we all live from it.”
And that is patriotism in action, because every investment in the domestic sector pays back many times over in the long run.
