On the afternoon of May 25th, at the Old Bund CEEC Portal in Ningbo, the Ambassador Salon for Bosnia and Herzegovina of the 2024 China (Ningbo) - CEEC Exchange Week was held as scheduled.  Here I had a face-to-face communication with the new ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to China, experiencing the sincere endorsement of this country by its "official spokesperson," and, furthermore, gaining insight into the mutually beneficial relationship between China and CEE Countries from this meaningful dialogue.

Ambassador: Yeah, actually it is. This is my first time to visit Ningbo. I heard a lot about Ningbo because Ningbois a hub for cooperation between China and central and eastern European countries.  And I have to say that I'm deeply impressed with everything what I saw here, and even everything, what I saw here exceeded my expectations. I heard a lot of positive things about Ningbo before. And It's really an amazing city with such a rich cultural and historical heritage.

Interviewer: so this time, this year, we have this China-CEEC week in Ningbo. And you come here and what kind of activities did you participate in during this week?

Ambassador: First, I participated to 8th Meeting of Business Council, and they gave a speech about the importance of our cooperation. After that, we also had a very, very interesting event. And for me very unique experience because I participated to live streaming.

Interviewer: Live streaming?

Ambassador: I personally promoted together with our Chinese hosts. I promoted products from Bosnia and Herzegovina, wines from two wineries, very very famous, well-known wineries from Bosnia and Herzegovina. So it was first time for me to do this kind of activity. And I really like it, somehow it was very positive experience.  What we particularly liked among all other activities was a concert. It was really, really perfect performance by Ningbosymphony orchestra. They were playing also songs from different countries, from different central and eastern European countries. 


Themed with“Deepening Collaboration, Creating Brilliance in Ningbo.", the 2024 China (Ningbo) - CEEC Exchange Week was organized by Ningbo Municipal Government. Asa longstanding participant in the 10th anniversary of China-CEEC cooperation, Ningbo has integrated institutional meetings and economic, trade, and cultural activities into a Exchange Week series by means of live streaming, concerts, salons and other forms of activities, Ningbo aims to demonstrate the vitality and dynamics of China-CEEC cooperation mechanisms, and to enhance China-CEEC cooperation to a next level

Interviewer: And as we know this year, and we've officially entered the 11th year of the Belt and Road Initiative. what is the view of your country in terms of One Belt and One Road?

Ambassador: I would say that ancient silk road didn't only promote people to people connectivity in terms of economic cooperation, but also social, culture exchange, peace and friendship.

Ambassador：So that is what's also Initiative of One Belt and Road is trying to do. It is a globally important initiative, which, in effect, can bring us to a new era of cooperation, openness, and inclusiveness. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina is from the beginning, the part of the cooperation mechanism between China and the central and eastern European countries。 I would like to mention that Bosnia and Herzegovina was the first user of loan by a Chinese investment bank in that cooperation mechanism, and that loan was used for a very huge project in my country. It was thermal power plant scenario, which brought a lot economic benefits to my country.

it’s really good example of cooperation with China.

Interviewer: Yes, great. Mr. Ambassador, what are your expectations towards the future relationships between our two countries? Or maybe in which area you think we could deepen this kind of cooperation?

Ambassador: So China is developing too fast. And in the last 30 years, China conducted political and economic reforms that are, in fact, subject of admiration of the whole world. And these reforms had aimed to alleviate poverty, to reduce poverty. It could be used for many, especially developing countries, is a very good pattern for development. We should use somehow our very good and excellent, I would say a relationship with China and try to benefit from this relationship, especially in the areas of digitalization, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, green energy

Interviewer: Okay, well, I noticed that you brought some things there.

Ambassador:I would like to show a mascot of Bosnia and Herzegovina to China. 

Interviewer: Very cute. 

Ambassador: So our little friend is called Bogovi. The Bogovi is composed of several important elements of Bosnia and Herzegovina representing our country. The color of our flag is yellow, blue, and white. So it is.

Ambassador: So this here is not crown on Bogovi’ head. So it is UNESCO world heritage bridge. It visions the bridge over the river of Neretva. So then these are national slippers which are also nominated for UNESCO. This is already UNESCO world heritage site, world heritage embroidery from Bosnia and Herzegovina.  And at the end, there is Bosnia and Herzegovina carpet. 

We have many Chinese tourists, but still we hope that we will have more. 

Interviewer:  So finally, do you mind if you could convey the message or kind of greeting to our audience.

Ambassador: Of course, for citizen of Ningbo, I would like to say that I really like your city and be sure that you will see me again very soon. We love Chinese people, we love China and you are more than welcome.