The "XIII Conference of the Speakers of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative" took place last April 23 in Neum (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The Conference was chaired by the Speakers of the two Chambers of the Parliament of BiH, Mr. Šefik Džaferović for the House of Representatives and Mr. Bariša Čolak for the House of People.

All participants expressed great satisfaction for the improvements in regional cooperation in the area particularly thanks to the newly endorsed "EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region" and expressed their wish to actively contribute to its implementation phase. The participants stressed the leading role governments had in such a process and expressed the belief that through political and legislative initiative, Parliaments could foster concrete developments in the Strategy.

The topic covered by the Conference was: "Connecting the Region in order to strengthen sustainable tourism", which is commonly understood as one of the most important economic asset of the region, as well as the engagement of parliaments in achieving the aims of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative and the EUSAIR.

Concluding, the heads of AII Parliaments decided to "establish a constant and more efficient flow of communication with the AII Chairmanship in Office, by appointing in the coming months a High Official from each National Parliament, in charge of liaising with the national Senior Official and the AII Permanent Secretariat on intergovernmental and EUSAIR issues".

The Joint Statement of the Conference and a list of the Head of Delegations is enclosed.