A two-day conference focusing on new age economy and innovations has commenced on Tuesday in a resort on Jahorina Mountain near Sarajevo, in presence of officials and representatives of the business community.

President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, Zeljka Cvijanovic, opened the Jahorina Economic Forum saying that innovations in technology will make the future “significantly different from everything that we are used to.”

“A breakthrough on foreign markets is the best way to develop the economy and increase the employment rate, and the main prerequisite for that is a creation of innovative and quality products,” she said.

The goal of the conference is to point out the importance of digital economy and the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) i.e. the importance to follow the trends.

Both Bosnia and the region urgently need IT and industry connectivity so that they can catch up with new challenges, said ‘SWOT’ association of economists, organiser of the annual event.

Addressing a panel discussion ‘The Importance of Innovations for Economic Development’, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that innovations and digitalization mean more money for citizens, economy and state budget, while digitalized state administration provides better efficiency.

“We must make the best use of the fourth revolution better than we did with the previous industrial revolutions, and for that to happen we primarily need to make changes in the education sector and teach children, which Serbia already does,” said Serbia's official.

She singled out Ireland as a country which used to face the same challenges that the Western Balkans is facing today, but has achieved significant growth thanks to digitalization.

“Ireland has 12 times higher GDP per capita than Serbia does and it had the biggest problem of departure of people than any country in whole Europe. It achieved the economic growth in the swiftest way and became a country where people not only return to but those from other countries come to work there,” said Brnabic.