The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Madam Atifete Jahjaga, participated today in the official opening of the Summit 100, of the business leaders in Southeastern Europe, in Portorož, Slovenia. President Jahjaga, invited by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Borut Pahor, is participating in the Summit together with the Presidents of the other Balkan region countries, amongst them the President of Croatia, Mrs. Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, the President of Montenegro, Mr. Filip Vujanovic, the President of Macedonia, Mr. Gjorge Ivanov and the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Mladen Ivanic.
Summit 100, organized under the auspices of the Slovenian President, gathers a number of business leaders and entrepreneurs from the regional countries of Southeastern Europe. Summit 100 precedes the Brdo summit, of the Presidents of the Balkan countries and the President of Slovenia and of Croatia as pioneers of this initiative.
President Jahjaga and the other Presidents participating at the Summit 100 which is being held in Portorož were also part of the panel discussions in the framework of the Summit “A New Deal for a New Age”, where they discussed about various issues of regional cooperation and joint ideas and projects in the field of economic development.
Below we bring accentuations of the presentation of President Jahjaga in the panel discussions:
“….In the political aspect, in the last year, all the countries of the South Eastern Europe region, have shown more willingness to dialogue by creating conditions for greater cooperation. We have entered into processes of building joint regional projects and have demonstrated more willingness for agreement. We need a common regional vision for economic development. I think that we need the creation of a New Deal, which will also increase our attractiveness towards foreign investors. A good development for all the countries of the region is also the Berlin Conference where the commitment was sealed that the prospect of the countries of the Western Balkan region is in the EU. EU integration remains the most important mechanism to encourage the countries of the Western Balkans region, including Kosovo, to push forward the reforms of the rule of law, market economy, and regional cooperation. During the last year Kosovo has made significant progress on the European agenda, and we expect to open a new chapter of relations with the EU. Even the investment and business climate is improving and the World Bank has described Kosovo as Top Reformer in its report of doing business. As a region, we need more foreign investment, and more investment from the European Union countries.
…. As the largest achievement to date in the region I consider the dialogue between us. I also see this Summit 100 as an important part of this communication created in the entire Balkan region, because it gathers business people from throughout the region. Our relations on the political level can affect your business relations in the economic level and vice versa. From here concrete proposals and initiatives can derive to facilitate regional economic cooperation and to avoid barriers that hinder this cooperation. Besides this an important process is being developed on the political level, the one of Brdo.
This is the initiative which has built a stable report between the countries and has helped the peace and stability process in the region, and has encouraged major regional ideas and projects. This process is helping the entire Balkan region, therefore our countries are the process of approximation with the EU, through the exchange of experiences and the determination of common regional priorities. It is very important that Slovenia and Croatia are creators of this joint relationship of ours, as two countries which recognize substantially the region and which are now EU members. The Brdo Process is the most important forum for the entire Balkans region since it has set a channel of communication between the countries of the region still disintegrating with the EU.
…The Brdo Process has opened the path to the Berlin process and both have a common goal, the acceleration of the integration process of the Western Balkans into the European Union. The Berlin process and the process of Brdo have special impacts on the development of the entire region and on its economic stability. Concrete projects are being discussed which improve the competitiveness of the region, increase the level of regional cooperation, approach our countries more, stabilize the region politically and economically, and encourage the interest of foreign investors.
…Our region needs a common vision and comprehensiveness is the solution. Our interest is cooperation and therefore a normalization of the general relations in the region will bring more prosperity.