TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA PROGRAMTuesday, 10 August, 2004Mr Fuad SabetaSecretary of the Foreign MinistryMr Mitar KujunalzicMinister-CounsellorHead of the Unit for Northern and Southern America,Japan and OceaniaMrs Nada MusterPolicy OfficerAustralian Embassy, ViennaNo biography providedMeeting summaryThe delegation held discussions with the secretary of Foreign Ministry, MrFuad Sabeta who highlighted some of the problems being faced by thepopulation . The people have suffered such stress and trauma due to the warand subsequent unemployment that as a result they are now confronted withmany social problems with alcoholism being one of the most distressing . TheG .D .P . per capita is $6,000 dollars as compared with $29,000 in Denmark . Itis very difficult to tax citizens due to the strength of the grey economy .Bosnia has survived but went through a terrible period one it would not wishupon their worst enemy, he said . The war in Bosnia was not conducted in thetraditional sense with lines of fire by with two opposing armies . About 200,000people were killed, a huge number for small country like BiH which had apopulation of 4.3 million prior to the warThe Constitution and agreements on the return of refugees were writtenfollowing the Dayton Peace Accord with a preference for a two state solution,one part a federation, BiH and the other a state, the Republic of Serbska . BiHhas a Government and R.S . has a Government . The responsibility of theFederal Government is with Foreign Trade, Policy and Monitoring .When the Federation of BiH was created, it started with three ministries, MrSabeta initially starting with the Foreign Ministry in 1992 . There are now 10Ministries . Their first meeting took place in Dubrovnik, because they could notagree on a location in BiH . This year, they have made a huge improvement,with the creation of the Ministry of Defence and joining the two fighting units .which is an important first step .Change is occurring - it might not be obvious, but things are changing . Sincethe war there has not been much economic improvement as many companieswere destroyed . There has been great improvement militarily and a reductionin the number of international peacekeeping soldiers from 66,000 in 1996 to11000 which will soon be reduced to 6,000 this year. Immediately afterTravel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP . and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP ., August, 2004 7 1