Free movement of goods, free trade in services, removal of barriers to trade in goods and services, as a framework for greater facilitation within the Common Regional Market are our main priorities for improving cooperation in the region, Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said Thursday addressing the Prespa Forum Dialogue held in Ohrid.
“With joint efforts of all countries and with the implementation of measures for greater cooperation we can contribute to greater prosperity for our citizens. The start of the implementation of the Common Regional Market 2021-2024 Action Plan is connected in the period of recovery of national economies from the pandemic, directing the Western Balkan countries to make the region more attractive for investment and trade. Intensive activities for the implementation of the Action Plan and the achieved results can significantly contribute to the process of accession of the Western Balkans to the European Union,” Bekteshi underlined.
During the economic and business session “On the Road to A Better Connected and Integrated Region – What is at Stake? How do we get there?”, the speakers including Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance of Albania Besart Kadia, Director General of the CEFTA Secretariat Emir Djikic, Aneta Antova Pesheva, Chairman of the MASIT Board of Directors, University Professor Marjan Petreski and Johannes Heidecker, an economic expert from the Germany who is advisor to North Macedonia’s government, debated about new challenges and solutions for boosting the regional economic cooperation and economic recovery in the post pandemic era, implementation the Action Plan for the Common Regional Market, sharing the best experiences for cross-border cooperation and connectivity and promoting sustainable innovation through Smart Specialization Strategies.
“We are all committed to better regional cooperation. As an opportunity to achieve results on this issue, we worked within the Action Plan for mutual trade issues, facilitating trade in goods and services and creating a region of non-tariff barriers. I think the right answer is to focus on consensual decisions in the Western Balkans to meet the obligations of the Action Plan. This is important primarily because the measures of the Action Plan are aimed at facilitating trade in goods and services without barriers. Another challenge will be the implementation of measures in national economies that can support trade and at the same time are compatible with the activities in the Action Plan,” Minister Bekteshi noted.
“Through the Economic Growth Plan and the new updated Industrial Strategy, we have focused on the development of the industry in the country. The new Industrial Strategy sets the priorities in industrial policy, starting with the strengthening of production through improving productivity, innovation and technology transfer or transformation of industry into green industry, all based sectors for production of context-oriented production and learning that is in line with European vision for health education through development of the manufacturing sector, green production, and linking foreign direct investment with local producers,” Bekteshi said.
Economy Minister Bekteshi noted the strong commitment to the realization of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, which is another tool for the region to join European policies for greater investment in green energy production and environmental protection.
“Last month, the government adopted an action plan for investments for a period of seven years, worth 8.7 billion euros, of which a total of 3.1 billion euros are intended for investments in energy projects, primarily in renewable energy sources,” he said.
Bekteshi underlined that the adoption of the Smart Specialization Strategy, which is based on the use of existing potentials in business, innovation and science, is in the final stage.
