Prishtina, 26 November 2025
The caretaker Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, accompanied by the acting Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, participated in the 8th Edition of the Wood Industry Convention 2025, which brings together representatives of businesses, institutions, universities, donors and local and international experts to discuss the development, innovation and future of the sector, organized by the Kosovo Wood Processors Association – Wood Cluster (SHPDK).
In his speech, the Prime Minister emphasized that as a Government, we are working carefully and attentively to create an environment where businesses can develop more easily, with fewer barriers and more opportunities. These improvements increase the ability of wood processing companies and furniture manufacturers to more easily collaborate with international partners, secure new investments, and expand more quickly into foreign markets.
He further added that Gallup International rates Kosovo as the safest country in Europe and third in the world for order and security. This is a clear signal to international partners that Kosovo is a predictable, stable and reliable place for cooperation and investment.
“Kosovo leads the region in improving freedoms, democracy and governance. With this, we are proving that the country is strengthening economically and institutionally – a crucial factor for companies that want to build trust with global partners,” Prime Minister Kurti emphasized and added that our vision is clear: Kosovo to become a regional center for the production of furniture and wood products.
The Prime Minister also said that “Made in Kosovo” in this sector is gaining ground in European and regional markets, not as a compromise of quality, but as its guarantee.
In this journey, your government is your partner, declared the Prime Minister, who also said that we are investing in dual vocational education, digitalization of services; innovation and modern machinery; increased export capacities; and sustainable forest management standards.
“So let’s come together even more, let’s work even harder for more innovation and more success for everyone! Thank you,” the Prime Minister concluded his speech.
Full Speech of Prime Minister Kurti:
The Honorable Chairman of the Board of the Kosovo Wood Processors Association, Mr. Zenel Kelmendi;
Honorable Executive Director of the SHPDK, Ms. Arieta Vula Pozhegu;
Honorable representatives of the wood industry, local and international partners, from the region and Europe, designers, artisans, entrepreneurs,
Honorable Ambassadors of Luxembourg and Sweden, Mr. Dietz and Mr. Westerlund,
Honorable Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade Mrs. Rozeta Hajdari,
Honorable colleagues from the Government of Kosovo and the Assembly of the Republic,
Honorable guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Wood Industry Convention is an event that, year after year, is raising the standard, deepening cooperation, and strengthening the identity of our industry. Today we are here to present our work, and to prove that Kosovo has inexhaustible potential, extraordinary creativity, and a broad horizon for development.
In Kosovo, when we say that we work ‘with flesh and soul’, in the wood industry that you develop and represent, you are the ones who work with saws and other tools, with hands and dedication, and you know how to turn even wood into art. And this is why the demand for your products is growing year by year, since you are not only concrete examples of success but also a new spirit in the economic development of Kosovo.
As a Government, we are working carefully and attentively to create an environment where businesses can develop more easily, with fewer barriers and more opportunities. These improvements increase the ability of wood processing companies and furniture manufacturers to more easily collaborate with international partners, secure new investments, and expand more quickly into foreign markets.
Kosovo is moving forward with confidence and with measured, sustainable steps.
Improvement by 31 places in the Corruption Perceptions Index shows that we are becoming a fairer, more accountable, more honest, and more respectful country. This institutional credibility is essential for companies seeking external partners or wanting to enter into long-term contracts in international markets.
Gallup International rates Kosovo as the safest country in Europe and third in the world for order and security. This is a clear signal to international partners that Kosovo is a predictable, stable and reliable place for cooperation and investment.
Kosovo leads the region in improving freedoms, democracy and governance. With this, we are jointly proving that the country is strengthening economically and institutionally – a crucial factor for companies that want to build trust with global partners.
Low public debt of only 17% of Gross Domestic Product, the deficit reduced from 512 million euros to only 25 million euros, and record revenues indicate macroeconomic discipline and fiscal stability. This makes us a reliable partner for the world, increasing investor confidence in local companies seeking financing, whether for machinery, technology, or expansion.
The average economic growth in the last 4 years – of 6%, the expansion of Gross Domestic Product next year to 12 billion, business turnover increased by 81%, and doubled exports prove that Kosovo is rising and growing, and consolidating its position as a modern and competitive economy. And this is of course thanks to all of you entrepreneurs who are here and many, many others who are not in this joint meeting today.
In this development panorama, the wood industry truly stands as a golden pillar. You have shown that tradition is not the opposite of innovation – on the contrary, it is the basis of its sustainability.
“Made in Kosovo” in this sector is gaining ground in European and regional markets, not as a compromise of quality, but as its guarantee.
Craftsmanship, contemporary design, commitment to quality, the honest work of each of you, the increasing recruitment of qualified and skilled workers – all of these together are elevating our industry to a new level.
There is strong competition, there is ever-increasing demand for new technologies and for increasingly qualified professionals.
And on this journey, your government is your partner. We are here to support you, empower you, and open new paths for development. Therefore we are investing in:
- dual vocational education, so that we have young people ready to enter the workforce with concrete skills, so that the burden of learning the tasks and functions they perform in your factories is borne by the state and not business;
- digitalization of services, so you can focus on production and not on documents;
- innovation and modern machinery, so that every company has the basis to be competitive with the best in the region and in Europe, so that we hear less and less from our businesses that I could have done even more, even better, if only I had this new machine that was just produced somewhere in Europe; then,
- increased export capacities, because your products deserve larger markets; and,
- sustainable forest management standards, so that the growth of the industry is both responsible and sustainable, and increasingly from local raw materials as much as we can.
We believe in your talent. We believe in your work. We believe in the strength of this industry to lead Kosovo to more advanced markets.
Our vision is clear:
Kosovo to become a regional center for the production of furniture and wood products. To become a place of quality, of invention, of design. A place that produces materials and identity.
And for this, we must each start with ourselves. For example, in the Prime Minister’s Office, where we receive guests, both the chairs and the tables are your products, and this is good for all state institutions, public enterprises, but also in our homes, for all citizens of the Republic, and especially for those who represent or lead anywhere in our political, economic, cultural and social system.
I thank you for your daily work, for your creativity, for your contribution to the economy and reputation of Kosovo, because through you we are becoming a country of quality, invention and design, a country that produces materials and identity.
Together – as a state, as an industry, as a society – let us continue this journey with clear vision and unwavering faith. And I’m so glad that when I first entered this room, on the left was a drone made as a wooden model.
And the latest news shows that Germany is helping Ukraine produce such wooden drones that are not detected by radar, and I thank Kreshnik Shehu for this information, who instead of saying good morning to me, told me this story.
I wish you that in this eighth edition of the Wood Industry Convention, we will bring as much cooperation as possible with each other, you with each other, together with the Government, but also to inform as many local and foreign consumers as possible about the quality you produce and the creative design you present.
So let’s come together even more, let’s work even harder for more innovation and more success for everyone! Thank you.
