Head of the Vojvodinian Government, Igor Mirović officially opened the Vojvodina in 2019 Conference by saying that the conference provided an opportunity for experts from numerous fields to exchange opinions at panel discussions and offer their vision of successful Vojvodina.
“The gist of the conference lies in new ideas and concepts that can change things that we are not satisfied with, and in continuing the work that left a mark in the social and public life of Vojvodina”, Mr. Mirović said in his welcome speech.
“Two and a half years ago, I presented Vojvodina’s deputies with the programme devised by the Provincial Government, and I was surprised to see that many deputies called the programme very ambitious and difficult to implement. At first, I thought that that was what the opposition was supposed to do, i.e. be critical, but thinking more about it, I realized that we had a big problem with a lack of ambition. This lack stems from the typical Vojvodinian mentality, as well as from decades during which we failed to resolve important issues that could have been resolved with a little bit more will and aptitude. I came to a conclusion that we need to change our mentality and infuse more energy into people who make decisions that affect everyday life and work”, he added.
“In the years that are behind us, we managed to partially change this concept, as well as the concept of conflict with the central authorities, not only because we belong to the same political ideas and parties, but because it is possible to work together when we belong to different teams. This will be one of the most challenging projects in the future – how to work with those who think differently than you. Four years ago, when Bojan Pajtić was at the helm of the Provincial Government, we drafted a large-scale joint project that we financed together and the project stipulating the construction of a fast road connecting Novi Sad to Ruma. Today, we had talks with two large companies from China and Hungary about this, and after four years, we are about to sign a commercial agreement stipulating the implementation of this project,” Mr. Mirović went on to say.
Speaking about the project that entails construction of four wastewater filtering facilities in four municipalities, Mr. Mirović underlined: ”There are many challenges and topics that you are going to talk about today that are important for Vojvodina and Serbia as a whole, with the number one topic being the European integration process. It is also very important that we cooperate with our neighbours – Romania, Hungary and Croatia, to mention just a few.”
Speaking about further plans, Mr. Mirović singled out ecology and environmental protection as some of the most important topics: “At one of the upcoming sessions of the Vojvodinian Parliament, we will launch an initiative for drafting a declaration on this important issue. We will try to define priorities in terms of building a number of wastewater and drinking water treatment plants. Also, public utility companies in other countries are starting to use electric vehicles in their work more, so there is no reason why our eight major cities should not follow suit.”
Mr. Mirović also pointed out that Vojvodina’s economic and business indicators were positive today, adding there was still a lot of work ahead of the Provincial Government in securing a better standard of living for all citizens.
“The issue of economic and business development is the issue above all issues. Vojvodina has achieved significant results in terms of GDP and industrial production growth, while our tourism is advancing well too. However, this is not enough. The situation in Vojvodina is good, but we should not be complacent about it. We must do much more and if we do not run faster, stronger and with more energy, we will not be able to match the results that the state has achieved in the past years – especially Vojvodina, which had the best results of all. Therefore, it is important that we remain cautious and intently listen to the programmes and plans that will be presented at this conference”, the Head of the Provincial Government concluded.