International scientific conference REDETE 2014

On April 10, in Banja Luka, there opened an International scientific conference entitled Researching Economic Development and Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies (REDETE 2014), organised for the third time by the Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka.



The conference which, owing to good organisation, the burning issues it deals with and numerous eminent participants, became notable in the entire region and beyond, is focused this year on local economic and business development related to the following topics: challenges in business environment, barriers to business development and institutional infrastructure.

The opening ceremony of this scientific gathering, held on the premises of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Srpska, was attended by the Minister of Science and Technology in the RS Government, Prof. Jasmin Komic, the Rector of the University of Banja Luka, Prof. Stanko Stanic, the President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Srpska, Prof. Rajko Kuzmanovic, and many other guests from the economic, social and political spheres in Banja Luka and the Republic of Srpska.
The chairman of the Conference, Prof. Jovo Ateljevic, in his introductory speech, after saying words of welcome and reminding all the present of the fact that the Conference gathered around 200 world-renowned economic experts from 25 countries, expressed his conviction that the chosen research topics from the field of economic macro-environment, international business, state role in the economy, business strategies, corporative management, innovations and technology transfer, entrepreneurship, human resources management and many other, would create ample opportunities for discussion, and also contribute to resolving some of the issues that transition countries face.



The Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Novak Kondic, stressed out that the experiences gained so far, as well as the number of papers received and the attendance of a great number of participants at the Conference REDETE 2014 speak in favour of the decision to organise the event again in the future. The Dean thanked the conference participants for showing the readiness to find ways by means of their research, knowledge and vision for overcoming the economic crisis and fostering the development of the Republic of Srpska.

Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Jasmin Komic, beside wishing everyone a successful conference, emphasised that the times in which we lived and faced great challenges in society, posed difficult questions to science in general, in particular to economics, as regards the functioning of the economy and the achievement of economic growth and development, and that this scientific gathering is an opportunity to find the answers to some of these questions.

In the introductory part of the conference, the attendees were also addressed by: Ms Hege Eiklid, the representative of the Norwegian HERD programme management, Prof. Dragan Antic, the Rector of the University of Nis, Ms Tatjana Vucic Rogic, the coordinator of the MBA programme of the Faculty of Economics, and the representatives of the conference partners: Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, Ms Mirjana Stojanovic, and UniCredit Bank, Mr. Sinisa Adzic.

The conference was officially declared open by Prof. Stanko Stanic, the Rector of the University. He thanked all the participants, particularly the numerous guests from abroad, on behalf of the academic community of Banja Luka, for accepting the invitation of the Faculty of Economics to participate in the conference and for expressing different opinions and new ideas in the field of economic development, that is, in the field of the still ongoing transitional processes in this region. Moreover, the Rector expressed gratitude to the professors of the Faculty of Economics and the chairman of the conference, Prof. Ateljevic, and the Dean, Prof. Kondic, for their assiduous work and efforts to promote the Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, but above all to give theoretical contribution to resolving the current economic issues.

The conference proceeded with panels, discussions and presentations of the papers accepted as part of thematic sessions, and during the two days that the gathering will last, there are also going to be organised discussions with policy-makers and people with everyday experience in the area, workshops on how to write and publish a research paper, as well as the award ceremony for the best paper among young artists.