Prishtina, 19 December, 2022
Historically, the bilateral relations between Kosovo and Slovenia, between our two countries and our two peoples, have been and continue to be very good and are getting stronger day by day, said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, at the end-year reception organized by the Embassy of Slovenia.
We have similarities in history, a history where Slovenia stood firm with the people of Kosovo – being a reliable friend and supporter. And we also have a common future – a future within the European family – sharing the values of democracy, the rule of law and the will and hard work for socio-economic prosperity, the Prime Minister further said.
He emphasized that as far as economic and commercial relations with Slovenia are concerned, without a doubt Slovenia remains a very important partner for Kosovo. During the last years, trade exchanges between Kosovo and Slovenia have shown continuous growth trends.
Last year, imports from Slovenia to Kosovo were about 177 million euros, while our exports to Slovenia were only about 10 million euros. During the period January-October this year, our exports to Slovenia have increased, reaching 28 million euros, which is an impressive increase of 180%. In foreign direct investments, we have also seen an extraordinary increase from Slovenia, from about 6 million euros in the period January-October 2021 to about 26 million euros for the same period in 2022, a growth rate of 350%, emphasized Prime Minister Kurti.
He said that we will work as two countries and respective private sectors to further strengthen and enhance our bilateral economic relations.
For the year and the years to come, I especially hope that our very good cultural and political relations will grow in strong terms, as well as our economic and trade exchange, the Prime Minister concluded his speech.
Prime Minister Kurti’s address at the end of year reception of the Embassy of Slovenia:
Dear Ambassador Benedejčič,
Dear Ministers Hajdari and Damka,
Dear chairman Fusha,
Dear Kosovar – Slovenian Business Community,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear guests and friends,
It is my pleasure to be here with you today and to raise a glass to the busy year we are leaving behind, and to the successful year that is awaiting for us.
Historically, the bilateral relations between Kosova and Slovenia, between our two countries and two peoples have been and continue to be very good, and they grow stronger day by day.
We have similarities in history, as Madame Ambassador mentioned, a history where Slovenia stood firmly with the people of Kosova – being a reliable friend and supporter. And we have a common future — a future within the European family – sharing values of democracy, rule of law, and the will and hard work for socio-economic prosperity.
Our government is currently drafting a law on a Sovereign Fund – a concept that we have seen in Slovenia and that we are adapting to our needs, namely the Slovenian Sovereign Holding.
It is great for us to use Slovenia as an example, also because we can avoid some of the mistakes that perhaps were done there, and we can try and do a bit better learning from you again.
In addition to strengthening our democracy and rule of law, we achieved a 10.7% of GDP as economic growth for this year, and then another 4% in comparison with the last year, when you subtract the inflation. We have added 25.000 jobs, and foreign direct investment increased by 47.6% this year, in comparison to last year, and last year in comparison to 2020 was 22% increase.
As for our economic and commercial relations with Slovenia, without a doubt Slovenia remains a very important partner for Kosova. During recent years, trade exchanges between Kosova and Slovenia have shown trends of continuous growth.
Last year, imports from Slovenia to Kosova were about 177 million euros, while our exports to Slovenia were only about 10 million euros. During the January-October period of this year, our exports to Slovenia increased, reaching 28 million euros, which is an impressive of 180% growth. In FDI, we’ve also seen tremendous growth from Slovenia, from about 6 million euros in January -October 2021 period to about 26 million euros for the same period in 2022, a 350% growth rate.
Though these are relatively small baselines, from a low base we are doing all this growth, to begin with, we will work as two countries and respective private sectors to further strengthen and grow our bilateral economic relations.
As Kosova officially has submitted its application to join the European Union, we will be continuously working on creating better conditions for doing business in our country, aligning standards and adopting EU regulations and law. In this regard also the signing of the three agreements within the framework of the Berlin Process was a great success which we will now have to ratify in our parliaments and begin to implement. It’s month and a half month that under the chairmanship of Chancelor Scholz the Berlin Process got rejuvenated and the establishment of common regional market in the Western Balkans of course will contribute to strengthening and widening bilateral relations between Kosova and Slovenia.
For the year and years to come I especially hope that our very good cultural and political relations will also grow in strong terms, just as our economic exchange and trade. And the trend, as I said, is very promising.
So cheers to you Madame Ambassador and cheers to all the participants today! And I wish to you a new and prosperous 2023!
Last modified: December 20, 2022