Deputy Minister of MTI, Faton Thaçi, in his speech addressed to the business community on the event organized by KCC the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kosova, said that over the years Kosovo has marked a positive trend in economic growth such as in: integration into regional and international markets, attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), improving the legal framework (harmonization with those of the European Union), infrastructure improvements, strengthening stable and democratic institutions and transforming into an economy based on free market principles and fair competition.
Among other things, he added that the Kosovar economy, in its “10th Jubilee of Economic Independence", could be said and valued that a significant development has marked from year to year, and the development have had a special model based in two pillars.
The first pillar is the enormous remittances and FDIs of diaspora that increase domestic demand through household consumption, while the second pillar is the huge public investments.
Deputy Minister Thaci emphasized that the combination between high consumption and low export has resulted in a very high trade deficit. "Given the risks associated with such a development model, the main challenge for Kosovo is to create favorable self-sustaining conditions based on increased domestic productivity and competitiveness on exports, aim of which is to reduce unemployment and poverty rate, "he noted.
Further, Mr. Thaci said that the factors that reduce employment rate are also obstacles for Kosovo’s economic growth: in recent years are identified key obstacles preventing economic growth, and we are mentioning some of them: Challenging Business Environment, Poor Infrastructure, Inconsistency among the Education and the Labor Market demand reduce employment and innovation.
Mr. Thaçi repeated that through intensive meetings with stakeholder, namely with businesses, producers, farmers, etc., has identified facts as the main barriers that have affected economic development. The current Government of Kosovo, respectively the MTI its development policies have oriented and focused and give high priority on creating stimulating conditions for fostering the private sector development, in particular development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Among the MTI’s duties and responsibilities are:
- Establish systematic conditions for trade, industry and commercial issues; and
- Creating employment policies and implementing legislation in support to sound and fair competition.
The Republic of Kosovo has already undertaken contractual obligations through the Stabilization and Association Agreement, where reforms in different departments are envisaged, with particular emphasis on economic reforms.
The MTI has recently drafted the Private Sector Development Strategy 2017-2021, which envisages various measures aimed at facilitating doing business environment and eliminating various trade and technical barriers.
Further, he pointed out that MTI has shifted its attention to the protection of domestic producers from foreign imports in cases of inadequate commercial practices. Our focus is on industries that have potential development and those industries that are in the first stages of development.
As with its portfolio MTI includes trade agreements and elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, MTI will continue to play a constructive and crucial role in meeting international obligations on the terms of mutual respect among countries.
At the end, the Deputy Minister Thaçi stated that the aim of the Ministry of Trade and Industry is to further support local producers in increasing their production and competing capacities, aiming to provide quality products to local consumers, and Kosovar companies become competitive in the region and beyond, maximizing the benefits of trade agreements that Kosovo has signed.
