The Ministry of Finance of the Zenica-Doboj Canton organized a meeting of representatives of the cantonal ministries of finance in Zenica with the aim of exchanging experiences and improving cooperation in the field of public finance management.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the ministries of finance of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Sarajevo Canton, Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde, Posavina Canton and Canton 10, as well as employees of the Ministry of Finance of Zenica-Doboj Canton.
The focus of the discussion was the introduction of program budgeting, which is a legal obligation for all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and whose full implementation is planned from the 2028 budget year.
The Minister of Finance of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, Dženana Čišija, emphasized that the meeting represents an important step towards the establishment of continuous cooperation between the cantonal ministries of finance.
– I would like to thank my colleagues who took the time to participate in this meeting. I believe that this is a significant step in strengthening the communication and cooperation of all cantonal ministries of finance. We discussed topics that are extremely important for our future work, especially program budgeting. Zenica-Doboj canton has advanced the furthest in this process and we plan to start with the program budget already next year. The Canton of Sarajevo is following this process, while the other cantons are in various stages of preparation and procurement of the necessary solutions. It is a legal obligation that the budgets for 2028 be prepared according to the principles of program budgeting – said Minister Čišija.
She reminded that the Zenica-Doboj canton made a significant step forward last year by signing a contract for the implementation of the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system, thus becoming the first canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to start the process of transitioning to program budgeting using modern cloud solutions.
The Minister of Finance of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Adil Šuta, thanked the hosts for organizing the meeting and emphasized the importance of mutual cooperation and exchange of experiences.
– Colleague Čišija recognized the importance of exchanging experiences and opinions between cantons. The Zenica-Doboj canton has gone one step ahead of the others in this process. We are currently in the phase of procuring the necessary solutions and are monitoring the activities carried out by ZDK. Program budgeting represents a new form of budget planning, and we will all have to be ready for its full application. These kinds of meetings allow us to exchange knowledge, experiences and the specifics of our systems and to respond more easily and quickly to the challenges ahead – said Šuta.
Džeraldina Krndžija, who, by the authority of the Government of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Goražda, performs the function of Minister of Finance, assessed the meeting as extremely useful for the cantons that are just entering certain processes.
– I thank Minister Dženana Čišija for organizing this meeting. The exchange of experiences was very useful, especially for cantons that are just starting certain procedures that others have already implemented. We received a valuable framework and guidelines for future activities that are the responsibility of the ministries of finance. I hope that such meetings will continue in the future as they represent a significant contribution to the improvement of the work of all cantonal ministries of finance – said Krndžija.
The participants of the meeting agreed that it is necessary to continue regular communication and cooperation in order to carry out the process of introducing program budgeting as efficiently as possible, with the exchange of good practices and experiences between the cantons.
Program budgeting represents one of the key steps towards the modernization of public finance management, and the Zenica-Doboj canton is currently leading the preparations for its implementation.
