The central part of the 2nd Balkan conference on standardization, which is continuing its work in Sarajevo today, is dedicated to small and medium businesses.
“The BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations is an important partner to the BIH Institute for Standardization. Much has been done, and more than 80 percent of EU legislation in this field has been adopted and the Institute is one of the most successful institutions’’, announced the BiH Minister for Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović.
The second Balkan conference on standardization, which is organized by the BiH Institute for Standardization, is focused on the relationship between standards and the economy, or how to make standardization more available to small and medium businesses. Representatives of national bodies for standardization from BiH, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, Turkey and Macedonia are participating.
“Standardization has the same importance for us, just like anywhere else in the EU, and as much as we have adopted the standards of the EU, this means that we could cooperate with the EU, the rest of the world, to exchange knowledge and experiences and what is most important, goods’’, added Šarović.
He recalled that small and medium businesses are the essence and foundation of all economies in Europe, and that more than 90 percent are employed in these businesses.
“And the structure of BIH is such. Most are small (family), and medium businesses that need more attention, not only when it comes to standardization, but to give them bigger importance, because this will be the backbone of the recovery of BiH’’, added Šarović.
According to the Director of the BiH Institute for Standardization Aleksandar Cincar, the National Body for Standardization could help small and medium businesses because it would include them in the process of standardization.
“In BiH there are 50 technical committees that cover various areas and in which there are more than 600 experts in different fields. Representatives of small and medium businesses are present in the work of technical committees, and about 35 percent of the total number of members of these committees are representatives of small and medium businesses’’, said Cincar.
Standards have to facilitate trade, make life and work safer and higher quality, as well as to shorten the process of some research works.
“We recognized small and medium businesses as very important actors in the economy and we dedicate this three-day conference to them. Participating countries will present the status and activities in their countries related to the inclusion of representatives of small and medium businesses in standardization’’, added Cincar.
The second Balkan conference on standardization began yesterday in Sarajevo.
(Source: Fena)
