Minister of Trade and Industry, Endrit Shala, has signed a cooperation agreement with the International Financial Corporation – IFC, a part of the World Bank Group, represented by Thomas Lubeck, Regional Director for South East Europe (IFC) and Riccardo Serri, Head of Political, Economic and European Integration Section, EU Office in Kosovo.
Minister Shala emphasised that the Ministry of Trade and Industry highly appreciates the work and to date partnership with the IFC, part of the World Bank Group.
“I would like to reaffirm our interest and willingness to continue this cooperation in the future. Hereby, I would also like to thank the EU Office in Kosovo, as one of the most active donors in Kosovo and one of Kosovo's most important partners in its journey to regional and European integration”, said Minister Shala.
Shala added that “Policy Development Project for Investment Promotion in the Western Balkans” is a regional project covering the countries of the Western Balkans, aimed at assisting the Government of Kosovo in its efforts to improve the regulatory infrastructure for further improving the investment climate and harmonizing regional investment policies with the European standards, which will assist the countries of this region, including Kosovo, to advance further in the process the European Union integration.
“During our daily meetings with foreign and local investors, we see an increasing number of investors interested to invest in Kosovo and with the help of this new project, the MTI is aiming to improve its legal and regulatory infrastructure in order to make Kosovo an attractive place for foreign investors. We also aim to improve the investment climate for businesses, to harmonize our investment policies with the European standards and to serve the investors more efficiently”, said Minister Shala.
The following activities will be included in the framework of this project: development and establishment of a Regional Reform Agenda related to the promotion of foreign investment policies, formalization of this Regional Reform Agenda through appropriate implementing instruments; implementation and monitoring of reforms related to foreign investment in the Western Balkans (WB6) under the Regional Reform Agenda for foreign investment; promotion of Kosovo and the Western Balkan countries (WB6) as a unique investment destination.
