Strengthening Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Statistical System: IT Equipment Donation from Romania
A formal ceremony marking the handover of IT equipment donated by the Government of Romania, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the development agency RoAid, was held at the headquarters of the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The donation consists of 24 high-performance workstations, which will be distributed among BHAS, the Federal Institute of Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics RS. This allocation supports capacity-building across the entire statistical system of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The ceremony was attended by H.E. Anton Păcurețu, Ambassador of Romania to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vesna Ćužić, Director of BHAS, as well as senior officials and representatives of the entity statistical institutes.
The donation represents a continuation of the long-standing cooperation between the statistical institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania, further strengthened by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2024 between the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The Memorandum established a framework for knowledge exchange, professional cooperation, and joint efforts to modernise statistical processes in line with European standards.
Within this cooperation, a specialised training in the statistical programming language R was also delivered by a Romanian expert, aimed at strengthening analytical capacities and improving the processing of complex data in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical institutions.
Director of the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and HerzegovinaVesna Ćužić emphasised that the donated equipment at BHAS will be used to equip a training centre for the professional development of staff, highlighting that investment in people is essential for the development and strengthening of official statistics.
“For an institution such as ours, investment in dedicated training space and equipment represents significant support. This donation enables systematic investment in the knowledge and skills of our staff, alignment with modern methodological standards, and ensures that the statistical system of Bosnia and Herzegovina keeps pace with international recommendations and the requirements of European integration,” Ćužić stated.
Ambassador Anton Păcurețu expressed his satisfaction that Romania is able to support Bosnia and Herzegovina through the sharing of experiences from its own pre-accession period, expert assistance, and concrete material support such as this donation.
“Official statistics play a crucial role not only for statisticians, but for all decision-makers. Reliable statistical data provide the basis for monitoring societal developments, planning reforms, and measuring a country’s progress. We are pleased that, through our experience, expertise, and this form of support, we can contribute to strengthening the statistical system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the context of its European path,” Ambassador Păcurețu underlined.
Romania’s support through the RoAid programme contributes to the modernisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical system, the improvement of complex data processing, and the strengthening of capacities to produce reliable and internationally comparable statistical data, which form the basis for evidence-based policymaking.