Employment: Turkey – Bosnia and Herzegovina

On October 11 – 14, 2011 a delegation of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina paid a working visit to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkish Employment Organisation (ISKUR) and Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Turkey. 

Cooperation with employment institutions of the Republic of Turkey agreed

On October 11 – 14, 2011 a delegation of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina paid a working visit to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkish Employment Organisation (ISKUR) and Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Turkey.  The reason for the visit was to improve the operation of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina through exchange of experiences and negotiation of a cooperation protocol and agreement in the field of employment.

On the first day the delegation of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina paid a visit to the Turkish Statistical Institute where it was introduced to the organization and information system of the Institute.  The meeting held there opened the door to signing of a cooperation protocol between the two institutions in order to improve statistical activities of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On October 12, 2011 the delegation held a meeting with representatives of the Turkish Employment Organisation (ISKUR).  Information on labour market situation in both countries was exchanged in the meeting.   As training and retraining are very well organized in Turkey, as well as the labour market statistics and monitoring and entire work system of the institution which numbers several thousand employees and handles over a million unemployed persons, a cooperation protocol was agreed to be signed during the conference in Sarajevo on 15 December 2011.

A meeting in the Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Turkey was held on the same day on cooperation agreement which is still pending before the responsible institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina since May 25, 2008 without any feedback.  It was agreed to urge our institutions to initiate the procedure for adoption of Draft Agreement as early as possible. It was also agreed to launch initiative for modifications and amendments to the Social Insurance Agreement between the Republic of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina so as to enable the Turkish Employment Organisation and Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had not existed when the agreement had been negotiated, become activity drivers in the employment-related part.   The parties in the meeting also agreed to continue the cooperation in the future.

On the last day of the visit to Ankara, the delegation of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina held a meeting with the Turkish Development Agency (TIKA).  It was proposed in a meeting held with the head of the TIKA Department for the Balkans to start joint activities with ISKUR towards establishing retraining and education centres which will be further discussed in the future.