Prishtina, 25 October 2022
The first Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Development and Dialogue of the Republic of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, took part in “The Western Balkans Summit 2022″, organized in Prishtina by the prestigious magazine The Economist, in cooperation with the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo.
Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi was a participant in the discussion panel on the Development and Growth of the Western Balkans.
Initially, Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi said that one of the Government’s goals is to have Kosovo recognized and identified by international partners for the development, growth of the economy and the successes achieved. He spoke on the objectives, priorities and vision focused on employment, justice, investment, export, economy formalization, energy, environment, sustainability, education and diaspora.
As to the achievement of these objectives, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the narrative and indicator for this success are the economic growth of 10.7%, the increase of budget revenues by 30%, the increase of exports by 2/3, the increase of foreign direct investments by 22% and the generation of 35,000 new jobs, with 10,000 of them being formalized jobs, knowing the difficulties in reducing the informal economy, but also how important this is for the business environment.
The quality of democracy, political stability, successful anti-corruption policies and the quality of the Economic Recovery packages, which addressed the pandemic challenges and those of electricity were estimated to be the source of such successes and a contributing factor in this regard.
Kosovo has been an exporter of stability in the region in the last 18 months and this has been reflected in a faster journey and in the fulfilment of obligations related to the European integration processes. Our country’s ranking improved by 17 places in the Transparency International index, an indicator of the Government’s commitment to the rule of law.
Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi also spoke about what Kosovo offers to potential investors and what are the strengths of Kosovo vis-a-vis the region, mentioning some examples, such as tax policies, the establishment of the Commercial Courts, free access to the EU markets and legislation aligned with the European perspective.
The potential for attracting foreign investment and Kosovo’s promising sectors vary from information technology to the food and beverage production industry, wood processing, natural resources, energy and winter tourism.
Last modified: October 26, 2022