The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, attended the High-Level Conference on South East Europe, organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), under the topic “Human Capital Flight – Shaping the Future Together”.
This week’s event aimed to discuss policy approaches and the best practices for establishing investment conditions and generating quality jobs; equipping people with the right skills for the transition to a knowledge-based economy, as well as capitalizing on the region’s diaspora for more development.
The conference was attended by ministers responsible for economic affairs and development, high-level representatives from South East Europe and OECD and EU member states, international partner organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as other regional stakeholders.
The conference was opened by speeches from senior EU and OECD representatives and the launch of the OECD report ‘Labor Migration in the Western Balkans’ designed to help governments meet the challenges and maximize the migration benefits.
The discussion panels were further led by questions for each South East Europe regional country, the different ways in which the region can use human capital – the skills, experience and talents of its citizens – to make the region as prosperous and competitive as possible. The discussion focused on questions as to how the regional governments can manage employment-motivated migration and create a promising future for citizens and businesses, and how strengthening local labour markets and transforming talents can drive the socio-economic development situation in South East Europe.
In the first ministerial panel chaired by Switzerland and represented by Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo and North Macedonia, the potential to increase the employment quantity and quality and to promote skills development, taking advantage of large remittance flows in the region more strategically were discussed, channeling diaspora knowledge and investment towards productive activities.
Asked how the Republic of Kosovo aims to create a conducive environment to boost diaspora investment and make the most of large remittance inflows, Minister Hajdari outlined the government policies and actions focused on structural reforms and improving indicators for economic and political stability, rule of law and growth of democracy in our country, aiming at building trust and strengthening the engagement with the diaspora to maximize the emigration development benefits.
Minister Hajdari highlighted that our diaspora is the most valuable asset in the countries where it lives while bringing along not only great wealth but mostly human capital, therefore they are the driving force of our economy.
“Through the knowledge transfer and financial resources, the formalization of remittances and the attraction of diaspora investments in a more strategic way, we will maximize the emigration development benefits. Also, by strengthening the citizens' education and vocational training policies and improving employment conditions, we will mitigate the power of the driving factors for emigration, improve the education of citizens and increase the labour market results," said Minister Hajdari.
Among other things, Minister Hajdari gave the message that the free movement of citizens will unlock the true and full potential of businesses through investment, trade and joint cooperation. Visa liberalization is a key opportunity for the diaspora, residents and foreign businesses to work together by contributing to greater economic productivity, rapid overall growth and the modernization of the Republic of Kosovo through Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Finally, Minister Hajdari said that the Republic of Kosovo, after only 14 years of its independence, according to the indicator-based evidence, is progressing well and is always open to strategic alliances as an equal partner and cooperation in areas of mutual benefit. The Republic of Kosovo has some comparative advantages in the Western Balkans, she therefore encouraged the panelists to discuss further the specific areas towards a concrete action plan. This action plan will be, to the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, a necessary and important undertaking by this OECD High-Level Conference.
