Despite being in urgent need of reform, Bosnia’s agricultural sector has weathered the global pandemic better than others, and was among the few industries to record growth in exports in the first half of the year – albeit a meagre 2.5 percent.
“During the coronavirus pandemic, the output has not decreased nor exports stopped,” said Fatima Halilcevic, quality manager at Bosnaplod, Bosnia’s biggest fruit processor which is based in the town of Brcko. “We even won a new market in Russia.”
Bosnaplod’s clients include the likes of German food manufacturers Dr Oetker, Zott and Muller.
Bosnaplod’s clients include the likes of German food manufacturers Dr Oetker, Zott and Muller
Benjamin Vukotic, the director of the Zeraa Agriculture Investment Group which owns Bosnaplod, said group’s revenues were up 30 percent in the first half of 2020 from the same period a year ago.
The holdings of the group, founded by a subsidiary of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), include a vineyard in the southern Herzegovina region, which suffered heavy losses due to the pandemic.
“We could afford such risk because we have an investor willing to support us, but agriculture in Bosnia lacks systemic government support.”
The sector employs 18 percent of Bosnia’s labour force and accounts for around 10% of its exports. But it is crying out for change, said Vjekoslav Vukovic, the head of Bosnia’s Foreign Trade Chamber.
“We have to modernise it, provide subsidies, harmonise regulations with EU standards and fight for foreign markets.”
Standing in his plum orchard at the foot of the Majevica mountain, fruit grower Nermin Kopcalic says all he cares about right now is the harvest.
“Coronavirus has affected us, but as far as our business is concerned, the virus has to stay to one side. We have to pick the fruit – we live from it. Not just me, but this whole community,” he said.
Nestled behind a tree near the Rawalpindi railway station is Lakhpati Serai, a small inn…
Pakistan, surrounded by huge plains and high mountain ranges, is confronted with a tough foe…
Health experts on World Thalassemia Day appealed to people that every single drop of blood…
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chaired UN INSARAG Steering Group Meeting convened on Wednesday…
Police in Lahore have arrested a man on Wednesday who allegedly kept raping a 10-year-old…
Matriculation exams in Khairpur have become a joke as the question paper of the ninth…
Leave a Comment