Prishtina, 16 July, 2024
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, today participated in the launch event of the “Diaspora Investments Window”, the newest innovative loan guarantee program aimed at attracting investments from the diaspora. This initiative was created by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, namely the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers, and the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund, in partnership with USAID, through the Investment Promotion and Access to Finance Project.
In his speech, Prime Minister Kurti emphasized the fact that emigration is considered a key factor for changing the image and trajectory of Kosovo’s economic development. According to him, the “Window for Diaspora Investments” is a step that further proves our commitment to creating the conditions for sustainable economic development and the creation of new jobs.
“We are opening the window for guaranteeing investments of the diaspora, which facilitates the financing of projects in which the businesses of our diaspora are enabled to expand in Kosovo. Through this window, it will be possible to guarantee investment loans up to 3 million euros, while the entire window is expected to reach up to 100 million euros”, said the Prime Minister.
Through this opportunity, our compatriots are transformed from passive investors who invest in financial instruments and indirectly support the development of the country, to active investors who invest directly in the development and creation of new jobs. On the other hand, in addition to financial capital, emigrants will also bring skills, knowledge and work culture from the countries where they currently live, which is important for the country’s economy.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati, said that as the Government of the Republic of Kosovo we have given the commitment to contribute up to 8 million euros of additional capital to the Credit Guarantee Fund, while the Credit Guarantee Fund has offered 2 million euros , and with this 10 million it is possible to guarantee up to 100 million euros in loans that can be issued to members of our diaspora who are interested in returning and investing in their country.
At this event, the agreement was signed between the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers and the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund for the capital dedicated to this window. Also, the partnership agreement was signed between three parties: the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers, the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund, and the United States Agency for International Development – USAID.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
First of all, allow me to join you in my condolences for Alban Kastrati. A loving, fair, calm man like him, you can’t imagine, let alone meet another. I have had the good fortune, therefore also the great sorrow these days since we grew up together in our early childhood, but we must find the strength to face this great loss and continue working for the state of Kosovo, for the economy and our country in it which he contributed with professionalism and devotion.
The Honorable Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Mr. Hekuran Murati,
Dear Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari,
Honorable Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Liza Gashi,
His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Jeffrey M. Hovenier,
Dear Ms. Eileen Devitt, Director of the United States Agency for International Development – USAID,
Honorable Mr. Besnik Berisha, Managing Director of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund,
Dear representatives of diplomatic missions in Kosovo, institutions and agencies in our country,
Dear attendees,
Ladies and gentleman,
It is a pleasure to be here today, at the launch ceremony of the guarantee window for the investments of our diaspora. This is a step which further proves our commitment to creating the conditions for sustainable economic development and the creation of new jobs.
In February 2021, that is, almost 3 and a half years ago, we promised a different government. We promised an uncorrupted and just, good and democratic Government. We promised well-thought-out policies that will change the image but also the trajectory of the country’s economic development. For the realization of these goals, we have seen our emigration as the key factor.
In the first year of government, in July 2021, through the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers, we issued Diaspora Bonds for the first time. This was a financial product, guaranteed by the state and paying tax-free interest, which enabled our expatriate to invest savings on the one hand and enable economic development on the other.
We directed the money collected with Diaspora Bonds, 10.43 million euros, towards economic development and the creation of new jobs, as we had promised, by subsidizing investment loans for our producers.
This gave an unprecedented boost to investments in production capacities, where for a very short time more than 100 million euros were invested, which translated into both employment and export, namely an increase in both of these.
During the last two years, I have visited dozens of businesses throughout the municipalities of Kosovo, which have expanded their production capacities and added jobs, as a result of this support.
This was only the first step towards exploiting the potential of our diaspora.
This type of investment that our diaspora made, through diaspora bonds, in financial terms is however known as passive investment. So, when the investor invests savings in a safe instrument that has a return on investment, but does not engage itself in the operation or management of the business.
Now, with the Diaspora Investments Window, we are taking the next step. We are creating the opportunity to transform our expatriates from passive investors in financial instruments and indirectly supporting the development of the country, to active investors who invest directly in the development and creation of new jobs.
For this, we are opening the window for guaranteeing investments of the diaspora, which facilitates the financing of projects in which the businesses of our diaspora are enabled to expand in Kosovo. Through this window, it will be possible to guarantee investment loans up to 3 million euros, while the entire window is expected to reach up to 100 million euros.
So, a compatriot who wants to invest in Kosovo will now find it much easier to get an investment loan, guaranteed by the Credit Guarantee Fund, and thus become part of our development initiative. Also, USAID offers the possibility of grant support to facilitate business development, for those businesses that invest through the diaspora window.
In addition to financial capital, which is necessary for the development of the country, our emigrants will also bring skills, knowledge, and work culture from the countries where they currently live. This has tremendous value for the country’s economy and is undoubtedly reflected in both planning and administration.
But an even more expensive thing, which cannot be assigned a price, is the return of our emigrants to live in Kosovo.
We already have many cases where our compatriots are returning to invest their capital in Kosovo, to reside and live here, to work here, because Kosovo offers many good conditions to develop business activities, and for them it is very easy to work and earn in their country.
We want to open a new chapter in the relationship of our compatriots with their homeland under the slogan contribute by sacrificing, invest to win, so we are not telling you to sacrifice to contribute, but we want them to win by investing and doing so surely, they also contribute as a result.
From the last population census we had, it turned out that a very large number of apartments are empty, which are mainly bought by emigrants. If you look at the structure of foreign direct investments, a significant part is investment in real estate, and this largely comes from our diaspora.
And this shows that our emigrants have already taken the important step, so they have their apartment here, they have a place to live, why should they return to live, live and work in their beloved homeland in our Kosovo.
This is evidence that the emigrant never gives up the dream of returning, and of creating the conditions for the realization of this dream, such as an apartment or a house in Kosovo, despite decades of living in Western Europe, in the United States of America and all over the globe, the emigrant has never left Kosovo, she may have been abroad but still within the nation and
I would say also the society and our economy
Now it remains for the dream of return to begin and become a reality. And we see this not only in their vacations in Kosovo, but also in the work they can and should do in Kosovo.
An entrepreneur who lives in Germany, when he found out about this new economic initiative of ours, about this window for the diaspora, wrote to me that with these steps we are taking, it is very likely that by 2030 we will have 2 million inhabitants in Kosovo, and I hope that this will be realized precisely by helping the economy, but also by increasing the population. In other words, Kosovo has room for more population, more work, more living and development.
With the possibility of investments, the opening of jobs, and the improvement of living conditions, there are not many strong reasons left for compatriots to continue to have the status of expatriate, they will no longer have reasons when they have the opportunity to, with similar conditions and maybe even better, to return and do business, and live in their country. We know that they don’t want to call them diaspora because of the ancient Greek etymology of this word but we call them exiles before because we like to think that they also return like migratory birds that return in the spring and I believe that the economic spring has arrived in Kosovo.
Thank you!
Last modified: July 23, 2024