Prishtina, 24 November, 2023
The Prime Minister’s Office, with the support of the Swiss Government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, organized today the Conference on Public-Private Dialogue, during which ‘Forumiks’, the dialogue platform between the private sector and the government, was presented, as well as the plan for the Agency new for Investments and Exports, within the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in this conference. In his speech, he said that they gathered here today with a very inspiring slogan “Empowering Progress Through Dialogue”, expressing optimism that demands and needs will be able to find understanding, precisely by increasing the dialogue of public and state institutions of the government with the private sector, which represents the foundation of increased development and economic and social progress of the Republic of Kosovo.
This type of dialogue, the Prime Minister further said, is done through four main pillars, (1) Private Sector, (2) Public Institutions, (3) International Organizations and (4) Non-Governmental Organizations. All four of these pillars, through the public-private dialogue, project the best possible vision on competitiveness and cooperation for the prosperity of the country and our citizens.
“Citizens of this country, our compatriots around the world, and our international allies must have a single goal together: To make Kosovo with a super-competitive economy and private sector”, emphasized the Prime Minister.
Competitiveness, as he said, brings more production and export, more jobs, more well-being, more revenues for the state, which are then invested in education and health, and thus continues the virtuous cycle where the results lead to a self-reinforcing chain of rapid sustainable irreversible development.
The Prime Minister expressed his conviction that with the good will that exists in businesses and their associations, in the government, and all actors in the ecosystem of the private and public sector, together we will be able to turn ideas into reality and the vision for development in concrete achievements.
At this conference, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Luan Dalipi, presented the plan for the Investment and Export Agency and the new platform for Public-Private Dialogue. He said that the driving force of businesses is competitiveness through increasing the quality and quantity of production and export.
The director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Sergiy Maslichenko, and the head of the Secretariat of the National Council for Economy and Investment, Artan Mehmeti, also presented at the conference, respectively, the importance, role and work methodology of this dialogue platform.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech
Excellencies Ambassadors,
Dear ministers and colleagues of state institutions,
Dear representatives of businesses, business associations, international organizations and media,
Dear participants,
Ladies and gentleman,
We have gathered here with a very inspiring slogan “Strengthening Progress through Dialogue”. Of course, here we are not talking about the political and diplomatic dialogue that takes place abroad, but about the public-private dialogue within our country. It is the foundation of further progress since dialogue implies that we speak to each other, but as we listen to each other. And I am very optimistic that the demands and needs will be able to meet understanding, precisely by increasing the dialogue of public, state and government institutions with the private sector which represents the foundation of increased development and economic and social progress of the Republic of Kosovo.
This type of dialogue takes place through four main pillars, (1) Private Sector, (2) Public Institutions, (3) International Organizations and (4) Non-Governmental Organizations. All four of these pillars, through the public-private dialogue, project the best possible vision on competitiveness and cooperation for the prosperity of the country and our citizens. So, we want to see competition and cooperation together with each other. Cooperation without competition languishes, while competition without cooperation risks becoming exhausting rivalry, so we need both, both competition and cooperation.
The citizens of this country, our compatriots around the world, and our international allies must have a single goal together: To make Kosovo with a super-competitive economy and private sector. Competitiveness brings more production and export, more jobs, more well-being, more revenues for the state, which are then invested in education and health, and thus continues the virtuous cycle where the results lead to a self-reinforcing chain of rapid development of permanent irreversible.
Who better than competing companies knows this about how the different sectors should develop, how they become complementary and how the effects are synergistic.
The companies that have developed through many sacrifices, especially ours, are the ones that have managed to export and compete in the global market despite the difficulties and obstacles that they have had, but also as we know and continue to have. But on the other hand, in the government of the Republic of Kosovo, the entire private sector has a guaranteed ally and partner in order to help each other, for this common goal, i.e. through policies, legal frameworks, public implementation mechanisms, and in general the environment to make business more successful, to grow those businesses, to produce and export more, to reduce informality as much as possible and finally to strengthen the competitiveness of our country.
Therefore, our dialogue is so important that it is decisive, that there is no alternative, and in addition to being consistent, we must be in this public private dialogue well structured, so that the opportunities and the challenges – as well as the way ‘ to realize or solve them – to be defined as precisely as possible and our meetings should not be repeated conversations but planning for more and reporting on the results achieved.
I am convinced that with the good will that exists in businesses and their associations, in the government, and all actors in the ecosystem of the private and public sector, together we will be able to transform ideas into reality and the vision for development in concrete achievements. In this case, the last few years are certainly hopeful.
For these two and a half years, we have a doubling of both foreign direct investments and exports, while more than 1 billion has been added to the country’s economy each year, which represents an unprecedented growth not only for our country after the war, but also for the region and beyond. . This undoubted economic growth is the result of the entrepreneurship of the private sector and the lessons learned from the past that become guides for the future. So let’s raise the public-private dialogue to a new level as catalysts that pushed us towards higher competitiveness and in this way you help us to help you and we are helping you to help us.
Thank you very much.
Last modified: November 24, 2023