The two-day conference is being attended by representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia.
In order to make the Sava river navigable, first it is necessary to remove all the mines left over from the 1991-1995 war and then address the issue of the eco-system and set up a system of protection against natural disasters, the Chairman of the Bosnian Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, said in his opening remarks.
Representatives of the four countries signatories to the Framework Agreement on the Sava River expressed the interests of their governments to fully revitalise the Sava waterway.
For that purpose Croatia has earmarked 12 million euros over the past five years, which Branko Bacic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Tourism, Transport and Development, described as insufficient.
Serbia and Montenegro has allocated funds for the removal of mines in the section of the Sava running through that country, said the Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stanimir Vucic.
Vucic added that the revitalisation of the Sava hydro corridor would encourage the further economic development of the countries in the Sava river basin.