The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of B&H and Minister of Finance and Treasury, Vjekoslav Bevanda and Director of the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in B&H, Marie Bergström, signed the Agreement on Developmental Cooperation for the period of 2014 to 2020, today in Sarajevo.
Value of the contract is greater than 100 million EUR, and 15 million EUR is planned for this year. Bevanda expressed his gratitude and satisfaction with the continued cooperation.
He reminded that the cooperation between these two countries lasts for more than 20 years and that Sweden is one of the largest donors who have always recognized the needs of B&H. Since 2004, Sweden has invested 480 million EUR in B&H, and 23.7 million EUR were funded just in the last year.
“The main goal of development cooperation is the support of the process of our integration. Within the cooperation, Sweden will enable financial grants for developmental cooperation for B&H. They will be implemented through special agreements for projects and programs,” said Bevanda.
Bergstrom emphasized that continuation of cooperation confirmed Sweden as the long-term and reliable partner in the process of development and integrations of B&H in the EU.
She emphasized that Sweden strongly supports future of B&H as a member of the EU, and focusing its co-operation with Bosnia and Herzegovina in all fields towards that goal.
She explained that that the cooperation is mainly focusing on three areas, the better economic integration with the EU and better economic development, stronger democracy, which implies bigger respect for human rights, and more developed legal state and better living environment.
(Source: klix.ba)