Montréal, 20 September 2017 – In his opening address at the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation’s (BHDCA) 20th Anniversary celebrations, the President of the ICAO Council, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, expressed his admiration of the significant achievements that the Directorate has accomplished throughout its existence, particularly given the challenging context it has faced, and affirmed ICAO’s continuing support towards further progress.
His mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), which took place on 11 and 12 September 2017, also comprised bilateral meetings with Dr. Mladen Ivanic, Member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Mr. Ismir Jusko, BH’s Minister of Transportation and Communications, Mr. Igor Pejic, Secretary of BH’s Ministry of Communications and Transport, and Mr. Djordje Ratkovica, Director General of the BHDCA. Dr. Aliu was accompanied by Mr. Luis Fonseca de Almeida, ICAO’s European and North Atlantic Regional Director.
“International partnership is at the heart of everything we accomplish in civil aviation, and it has played no less a role here in helping you to attain your current levels of performance,” Dr. Aliu remarked. “We have greatly appreciated the complexities and challenges you have faced in this regard, but together we have been able to overcome numerous technical and political obstacles on our way to full normalization of aviation operations in the Bosnia and Herzegovina airspace and the establishment of an effective civil aviation administration.
He also acknowledged with gratitude that ICAO’s support of this success had been predicated on the engagement, funding, expertise, and assistance of the Office of the UN High Representative, the European Civil Aviation Conference, the European Commission, Eurocontrol, NATO, among others.
Looking forward as he highlighted civil aviation’s crucial contributions to sustainable development, Dr. Aliu noted that in order to pursue its progress, the BHDCA would require sufficient human resources, autonomy and flexibility. He also took the opportunity to stress the importance of the implementation of ICAO’s security and facilitation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and programmes, notably within the context of UN Security Council resolutions on aviation security, and the need for BH to urgently approve its National Civil Aviation Security Programme in this regard.
These points were well received by the country’s leadership, with Dr. Ivanic expressing his commitment towards their realization.
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