Chamber of economy of FBiH presented the BLUEAIR project (Blue growth smart Adriatic Ionian) through meaningful program of the conference held in Neum on Saturday, December 18th, 2021. The conference started with the welcome speech given by Mr. Marko Šantić, president of the Chamber of economy of FBiH.
Mr. Zvonimir Miletić, project manager, presented the project, which follows the Adriatic-Ionian Region’s Smart Specialization Strategy (3S) on blue growth and strengthens the region’s institutional capacity by building a specialized innovative community and ensures the coherence of local initiatives with the EUSAIR macro-regional strategy. He emphasized the direct impact of the project on improvement of cooperation at macro-regional level in terms of specialization in blue economy sectors and improvement of strategical planning. The conference continued with a panel discussion which gathered Mr. Tomo Krilić, assistant to the director for sales of the Port of Ploče, Mr. Aleksandar Joksimović, director of the Institute for Marine Biology of the University of Montenegro, Ms. Danijela Lovrić, secretary of the Tourism Association of the Chamber of economy of FBiH, and Mr. Niko Miljas, representative of the Association of Tourist Shipping Companies at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. Through a one-hour conversation, they discussed on the key challenges and potentials of blue economy sectors in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region. The conference emphasized the importance of the responsible use of marine resources, as well as a systematic and strategic approach to smart growth and development of both tourism and maritime transport. The panelists stressed the importance of communication and cooperation of all actors, including scientists, fishermen, tourism professionals and all other individuals who play a significant role in this macro-region. The importance of cross-border cooperation of regional countries, as well as environmental protection in the development of this macro-region were further emphasized.
The conference, which brought together a large number of participants from the region, ended with a joint lunch as an excellent opportunity for networking and further exchange of experiences on this topic.
BLUEAIR project is co-funded through Interreg V-B ADRION 2014-2020. Chamber of Economy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina implements the project as project partner from Bosnia and Herzegovina together with 10 project partners from the following countries: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia and Greece.