The minister of Trade and Industry, Bajram Hasani took part at the conference organized by the World Bank (WB) in Kosovo, on: Working places and obstacles on creating jobs in Kosovo”.
In his speech, Minister Bajram Hasani stated that he is paying particular attention to the activities related to the continuous improvement of the business climate and on removing obstacles for businesses, on support to private sector development, on creating jobs and boosting competitiveness. "All of this is done aiming to support private sector in order to orient their production and services toward to value-added, to reduce trade deficit, to increase revenues and to enable sustainable economic growth," Hasani said.
Further, he said that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, with donor support, has made considerable efforts to identify, analyze and prioritize investments in sectors with potential growth in export and job creation, especially in agribusiness (food processing and packaging), information and communication technology (contracting the work processes), metal processing, textile and leather processing, wood processing and tourism sector.
Although, minister Hasani mentioned the challenges that still remain a matter of concern for entrepreneurs, including: customs procedures, limited opportunities to establish contacts with international business networks, political relations with exporting countries, lack of funding and leans for exports, high cost of bank guarantees and international of the quality standards.
Minister Hasani added that education programs still are not fully adapted according to the latest industry and the market trends. "The six most priority sectors with potential has reported a wide range of gaps in knowledge and skills of their existing and potential employees. These differ from the lack of primary production and processing skills, to the lack of skills in modern technology, lack of knowledge on operational procedures, quality control, production management, communication, marketing and promotion, sales and administration, “said Hasani.
Among other, the minister of Trade and Industry said that the ministry he leads is continuously supporting the private sector, concretely the small and medium enterprises, through grants or other assistance, such as the Voucher Scheme, by providing consultant services to companies, assistance on certifying their products and services, also has been established a Loan Guarantee Fund programs that will also help on employment of new staff.
He also mentioned the support that this ministry is providing to students, where during this year (2017) 175 graduate students are supported: 129 females and 46 males, with a duration of three months internship work in the private sector, aiming to employ at least 10 percent of these interns.
By concluding his speech, Minister Hasani said that he and the ministry he leads are committed to continue to develop trade and industry policy, as well as cooperation with all stakeholders in addressing the employment issue and youth skills with labor market.
The World Bank Manager for Kosovo, Marco Mantovanelli stated tht there was economic growth in Kosovo, which did not contributed in the number of job creation, so that could make changes. According to Mr. Mantovanellit this economic growth is reached by remittencies and consumption and as such bring long –lasting growth.
Meanwhile, World Bank Representative Monica Robayo has presented the report on the main findings of the Kosovo’s job diagnostics and has stated that youth unemployment in Kosovo is twice as high as overall unemployment in Kosovo.