Students from International Burch University's Business Development Club organized a Forum on Domestic Production to raise awareness of the importance of buying domestic products and supporting domestic producers, as well as to exchange opinions and knowledge about current trends in domestic production.
The event took place at the Cosmo Hub yesterday, June 16th.
The panelists at this year's Forum were: Admir Kapo, President of the Association „Kupujmo i koristimo domaće“ (Buy and Use Domestic), Fahir Kanlić, Head of the Department of Industry and Construction Statistics of the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Irhad Avdagić, Director of Production of Vispak and Zinaida Vraćo, Sales and Marketing Expert of Semić and Alija Kožljak, Head of the Department of International Relations and European Studies IBU.
Panelists spoke from various perspectives about the impact of global developments on bh. manufacturers, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic to the challenges currently confronting the global economy because of the Ukraine war.
The imbalance of BiH's foreign trade was highlighted, through numerous examples of the negative relationship between imports and exports. It is especially devastating that water imports are three times greater than exports, although our country has quality sources and a great wealth of water.
Numerous examples of the negative relationship between imports and exports were used to highlight the imbalance in BiH's foreign trade. It is especially devastating that water imports are three times higher than exports, even though our country has abundant water and quality sources.
Admir Kapo, President of the Association „Kupujmo i koristimo domaće“, stated that citizens' awareness must change because data showing 3 million cell phones sold in BiH indicates that our perception of needs is incorrect. Furthermore, Mr Kapo emphasized that BiH citizens do not even eat BiH bread because 72 percent of wheat is imported.
Our country is rich in raw materials, but politics, disinvestment in manufacturing firms, and government subsidies have forced most producers to rely on imports, which is disastrous and leads to an uncertain future.
Companies in BiH face a variety of challenges because of global developments and developments, and they seek market survival in a variety of ways.
The panelists agreed that changes are needed in citizens' awareness of domestic production as well as better utilization of domestic resources to reduce reliance on raw material imports.
