Tesanj is one of the most productive Local Communities in BiH

Local Community Takes Initiative

Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative to BiH Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark hosted the 13^th debate on local economic and sustainable development in Tešanj on 31 May.

“Tešanj is one of the most productive local communities in BiH with more than 200 registered small and medium enterprises, coming mainly from the private sector”, Ambassador Wigemark said during the discussion with the citizens of this municipality, business people, farmers and representatives of civil society and youth.

“Tešanj is a good example of how local communities can take initiative and now is the right time to get on the next level of development”, Ambassador Wigemark said and added that the process of EU integration concerns all the citizens of BiH.

Ambassador of Poland to BiH Andrzej Krawczyk also attended the debate and pointed to the importance of local communities in the process of EU integration.

“It is important for BiH to enter the negotiations as ready as possible and including local communities in the whole process is essential”, Ambassador Krawczyk said.

The participants discussed variety of topics such as the compatibility of the educational sector and the labour market, simplifying of administrative procedures as well as the access to the EU funds for a better growth of Tešanj. They also noted the importance of digital technology development, social entrepreneurship and youth self-employment.

Following the debate, participants had the opportunity to visit the informative-education fair organised by EU co-funded projects which are directly contributing to economic and sustainable development of local communities including Local Integrated Development (LID) funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP and EU ProLocal – the Programme for Local Self-Government and Economic Development in BiH funded by the EU and German Government, implemented by the GIZ.

Within the “Local Community Takes Initiative” project, the Office of the EU Special Representative is holding public debates about the challenges and opportunities of the EU integration process and supplementary programmes in 15 local communities across BiH.