“I attended several CEF learning initiatives as part of the FISR project. One that especially influenced my skills and was useful for me was the “Enabling Finance Officials as Trainers and Learning Facilitators” workshop. The agenda was comprehensive and covered costing as well as support to development of soft skills, such as negotiation, coordination and presentation. For me personally, the workshop was very important as it helped me come to the realization that my strength actually lies in good presentation and negotiation skills.

At the workshop, when sharing feedback about our presentations, one of the co-participants stated that I am pleasant to listen to and a natural speaker, which came as a surprise to me as I haven’t considered myself that way before. This recognition was really important to my perception of myself as a speaker, which is crucial for my work at the Directorate for Economic Planning and in the coordination process of the economic reform program in the country.

At work, we cooperate with different stakeholders from line ministries at entity and state levels to the European Commission, each having their own interests. Our job is to coordinate all of them and to find the middle ground that would partly satisfy everybody. To achieve this, one has to be a skilled diplomat, with the ability to present views well. And the development of the so-called soft skills helps with that. On the other hand, the focus of FISR in-country events on the costing methodology is also crucial, as this is important for technical experts who are passionate about their work and can learn together, exchange knowledge, and improve this important aspect of the process.

One important outcome of the FISR project is that the ERP process in the country is becoming more visible. The ERP is very important for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is more and more perceived as a unifying element for everybody. The ERP is seen as a positive, progressive process. In my mind, a project that offers a platform for all stakeholders to meet and discuss common issues has good potential to become a success story.”