Dr. Lagumdzija – Al Attiyah: Qatar will support projects for young people’s employment



On 28 February, 2014, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affaires of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Zlatko Lagumdzija met in Sarajevo with Minister of Foreign Affaires of the State of Qatar Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah who paid a return visit to B&H.

Dr. Lagumdzija expressed his satisfaction with the visit of Minister Al Attiyah and, having in mind that the same has taken place 9 months after the visit of the state-business delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Qatar headed by Minister Lagumdzija, he said that this visit confirms friendly relations between the two countries and mutual commitment for its further improvement.

During the meeting Dr. Lagumdzija emphasized that over the past year concrete results were achieved in the preparation of bilateral agreements necessary for more efficient cooperation between B&H and Qatar in different areas and he expects that four agreements will be signed in the next few months. He is pleased with the Agreement on regulating the employment of B&H citizens in the State of Qatar, the Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture, Protocol on cooperation in the field of youth and Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of education, higher education and scientific research that will enable B&H construction executives to participate in large-scale projects in preparation for Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022, as well as B&H citizens to work in other different areas and that will provide cooperation between the two countries in the field of culture, education and youth.

Minister Al Attiyah thanked Dr. Lagumdzija for a warm welcome and emphasized that B&H has a special place in the hearts of Qatari people and that this part of the world is important for his country. He expressed his satisfaction over the completion of legal framework necessary for bilateral cooperation between B&H and Qatar. He is also pleased that B&H companies have been already operating in Qatar’s market and participate in a business competition in this country. He added that with regard to long-term plans of the Government of Qatar, they will leave the door open for B&H companies to take part in projects even after 2022.

Dr. Lagumdzija and Minister Al Attiyah agreed that future projects should be aimed at providing support to small and medium enterprises and employment of young people, new generation of B&H, as well as giving a chance to young businessmen and those who do not possess the entrepreneurial spirit, but have different skills. In that regard, it is agreed to find models in order to realize ideas for employing young people and to achieve cooperation concerning the real problems and real people through concrete projects.

During the meeting they also discussed different modalities of presence of Qatar in Bosnia and Herzegovina in financial sector, 5C Corridor projects and sector of energy. They agreed to organize business forum Bosnia and Herzegovina-Qatar in Sarajevo by the end of this year with the aim to explore all possibilities for developing economic cooperation, as well as to hold a meeting of Joint Committee for economic cooperation between B&H and Qatar.