Canton Sarajevo Minister of Economy Mr. Adnan Delić paid a visit to the International University of Sarajevo on Tuesday, May 25, 2022. He was hosted by the IUS Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yıldırım and Assistant Professor and Manager of IUS Research and Development Centre Dr. Jasmin Šutković.
Minister Delić presented the current situation regarding higher education and employment of students in Canton Sarajevo indicating that universities need to harmonize their study programs with the needs of the labor market which at the moment is not the case. In view of this, he stressed that there are deficiencies in qualified labor in the IT and Tourism sectors with surplus labor in many social science fields. Minister Delić praised higher education institutions such as IUS which are flexible to adapt to the current trends and offer future generations programs and skills which make them employable from day one of their graduation.
Rector Yıldırım acknowledged the fact that IT programs are among the most popular with IUS students as well and expressed interest in opening new study programs in this field if there will be subsidies and long-term support from the government. Minister Delić explained that Cantonal Ministry of Economy is providing annual scholarships and assistance programs to interested students and parties subsidizing their study and employment through start-up and entrepreneurship programs but stressed that this needs to be intensified in order to prevent the current rapid brain-drain trends.
The attendees agreed that one of the most attractive and feasible solutions to the current challenges would be more concrete and enhanced public-private partnership initiatives by which the current huge gap between universities and the industry would be bridged. Minister Delić pledged his support to such initiatives stressing that the Cantonal Ministry of Economy would maximize its efforts to assist and mediate in creating new bridges.
