Schloss Bensberg, Germany, 11 May 2026
The Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, opened the international conference “Future Industry Minds 2026” in Schloss Bensberg, Germany, an event that provides a platform for professional exchange, innovation, and high-level dialogue on industry, digitalization, and transformation.
In this year’s edition, the Republic of Kosovo was welcomed as the Partner Country of “Future Industry Minds”, with representatives of Kosovo institutions and companies participating in this two-day conference.
In his opening speech, Acting Prime Minister Kurti spoke about the history of the close ties between the two countries and expressed thanks and gratitude for Germany’s continuous and unwavering support for Kosovo. In this context, he mentioned that around 600,000 members of the diaspora from Kosovo live in Germany, who are well integrated and successful, including doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, skilled and diligent workers, and others.
Acting Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that, being one of the countries with the youngest population in Europe, with an average age of around 34 years, and with the majority of young people speaking at least one foreign language, Kosovo has great workforce potential.
“Decades of migration have created a generation of Kosovars who grew up bilingual, speaking Albanian and German, who studied in Germany, trained in Germany, and in many cases worked in Germany before returning home. When your team in Prishtina joins a video call with headquarters in Cologne or Frankfurt, there is no need for translators. All that is needed is good internet, and I am happy to say that, with one of the best internet coverage rates in Europe, that is not a problem at all,” he said.
In the economic context, he underlined that total trade turnover between Kosovo and Germany currently amounts to €1.8 billion, highlighting the services sector as the main component with €1 billion, as well as remittances exceeding half a billion euros. Acting Prime Minister Kurti stressed that, overall, German companies have invested around €1.5 billion in Kosovo, 62% of which has been invested in the last five years alone.
Speaking about the participating companies from Kosovo as serious partners and calling for deeper cooperation, Acting Prime Minister Kurti devoted special attention to Kosovo’s extraordinary potential in the sectors of information technology, software development, services, logistics, and more.
“I want to be specific. The companies in this room have already proven themselves to international clients. They have met European deadlines, worked according to European quality standards, and in many cases built teams that communicate fluently in German. They are not at the beginning of their journey. They are at a stage where the right partnership would accelerate everything,” said Acting Prime Minister Kurti.
