Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Zeljka Cvijanovic attended today along with the Minister of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation, Zlatan Klokic, the signing of the Agreement on allocation of funds for the employment support programme with the NCR Company Banja Luka in the sector of international business services.

The Agreement was on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Srpska signed by the Minister of Science and Technology, Jasmin Komic and on behalf of 'NCR' Banja Luka by Deputy Director, Vladan Zivanovic.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Zeljka Cvijanovic stated after the signing of the Agreement that the Government would provide two million BAM in two tranches, a million a year on the account of employment support of 100 workers this year and another 100 next year in 'NCR' Banja Luka.

"This is an investment of two million BAM in two years, one million per year and we expect the return of 3.5 million thorough taxes and contributions", the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Cvijanovic said that this was a sustainable investment that would pay back through workers' salaries, taxes, and contributions.  

"We saw our prospects looking at the Government of Serbia which recently signed a new Agreement with 'NCR' on employment of additional 1700 workers in Serbia. Our ambitions are to follow the example of Serbia even though we cannot match those numbers. We expect that around 200 workers would be employed as planned by the Agreement", the Prime Minister said.   

According to Prime Minister Cvijanovic, long term plans and talks between the Government and this Company refer to several years of work in continuity and positioning on the market and creation of the base for employment of certain professionals.  

"I believe that cooperation with our universities would lead to recruitment of qualified workers who would be able to work within a global network of business activities which are almost unknown in BiH and very rare in the region making us a sort of leaders that makes me very happy", Prime Minister Cvijanovic said.  

The Prime Minister emphasized that having signed this Agreement, the Republic of Srpska confirmed that it was a part of the global activities performed by this respectable company and reminded that contacts with NCR Company began in 2015 with the assistance of the Representative Office of Republic of Srpska in Washington.  

"It looked like a dream then that we would enter this arrangement that would contribute to opening of new jobs but also positioning of the Republic of Srpska on the global network and business activities in this sector", Prime Minister Cvijanovic said.  

The Prime Minister added that those were well paid jobs, in view of the fact that 25 percent of the jobs were for highly qualified workers.  

"This is an important effort and we are grateful for the opportunity to start the cooperation and create a solid basis for future cooperation with such a powerful globally known Company which had a 6.5 billion US dollars income in 2016", Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Zeljka Cvijanovic said.  

Minister of Science and Technology of Republic of Srpska, Jasmin Komic, stated that according to the Agreement, the Government shall provide BAM 10,000 of incentives per worker for 200 workers which totals 2 million.  

"Half of that amount shall be paid this year and half next year when the full employment quota would be reached. In that way we are encouraging this business activity hoping that the Government investment would return through taxes and contributions and in the long term the effects would be even greater", Minister Komic said.  

Minister Komic further emphasized that this kind of business support would contribute to raise the competitiveness of the Republic of Srpska in attracting specific investors.  

"The Agreement between the Government of Republic of Srpska and 'NCR' Banja Luka has defined that NCR would in the next two years employ 200 workers out of whom 25 percent would be highly qualified whereas their average gross salary would be BAM 1,512", Minister Komic said and added that under the Agreement, NCR shall not reduce the number of its staff in the RS for the following three years after it reaches the quota of 200 workers.

"This Agreement is also the message that Republic of Srpska was good and desirable place for investments. The fact that a respectable American company was entering the market of Republic of Srpska is the sign of security for business operations in this area and also the signal that high standards have been met", Minister Komic said.

Deputy Director of  "NCR" Banja Luka Vladan Zivanovic stated that this company was the leader in the domain of provision of software services and as technology company which exists for more than 150 years has pledged to long term presence in the region through the Agreement signed.   

"Our business activities in Belgrade exceed the number of 2,000 employed. Last month we signed another Contract in Belgrade for the next three years that obliges us to raise the number of the staff to reach the number of 3,700. It was only logical that we would look at the entire region and try to identify the young, the talented and the educated who are ready to join a company like ours", Zivanovic said.  

He further explained that the employees would provide support from the Center in Banja Luka which would be nominally set to give technological software support for the Company users in the sector of services provided at the global level.  

Mr. Zivanovic stated that NCR Company came to Republic of Srpska to stay and was obliged under the Agreement signed to be present at least five years.  

"We did some preparatory work and registered the Company so what follows is the operational part of the work, selection of the staff and training hoping that in the next few months we would be able to operate fully and offer our services", Mr. Zivanovic pointed out.  

American company "NCR", which is based in Georgia, USA, has a 130 year long tradition and employs more than 32,000 people around the world.