A meeting of ministers and representatives of the governments of Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Albania in the framework of the “Open Balkans” initiative was held in Nis tonight, opened by Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, who said that the goal of the three countries is to work as one, said the MIA correspondent from Belgrade.
Mali welcomed the ministers and representatives of the governments of Northern Macedonia, represented by Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Trajan Dimkovski, and Albania, who in the next two days will discuss how to implement the “Open Balkans” initiative. that is, how to remove barriers for business and citizens.
– We all have the same goal, to increase economic cooperation, not only between our three countries, but also all countries in the region. As Minister of Finance I can talk in detail about economic growth, growth rates, improvements in the economy…, but we all know what our goal as politicians is, and that is for people in our region to have a better life, to improve business, to make more money and make their dreams come true here, Mali said at the opening of the meeting.
He pointed out that the goal of the representatives of the governments of the three countries in the next two days is to work out a plan on how to improve the flow of goods, services and people, as well as to remove everything that the three economies see as obstacles to development and progress.
According to a statement from the Serbian Ministry of Finance, Mali said there was a political will “for these three countries to function as one” and to comply with phytosanitary procedures, customs procedures and facilitate the flow of goods.
“We can do it together and I am very happy to be working together for the same goal, which is to have no borders and barriers, but for the three markets to function as one,” Mali said.
The meeting of the representatives of the governments of Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Albania opened tonight with a ministerial meeting, and the government representatives and the members of the sectoral groups in the next two days in Nis will discuss work permits and trade facilitation, which will enable free flow of goods. , services and people across these three countries, according to the Serbian Ministry of Finance.
The meeting was also attended by Serbian Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Branislav Nedimovic, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Tatjana Matic and Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and from Albania.
In the next two days, representatives of six sectoral groups will discuss the capacities for import, export and movement of goods, free movement of agricultural and food products, free movement of industrial products, access to the labor market, the only electronic identity for the citizens of the Open Balkans and a single information system.
The members of the sectoral groups are representatives of the competent institutions in all three countries.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Dimkovski stressed that the realization of the “Open Balkans” initiative will not be easy, but that all three governments together will fight for its success.
– We will discuss how to implement the initiative, how to increase production and trade between our three countries, how to reduce bureaucratic procedures, we will talk until all barriers are reduced to zero, said Dimkovski.
He expressed hope that the initiative would bring a better future for the economies of the three countries and that the idea would lead to some new ideas.
Serbian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Nedimovic said that members of his ministry would do their best to overcome the problems at the Presevo-Tabanovce border crossing as soon as possible, adding that they had prepared a series of proposals to be presented to counterparts from northern Macedonia and Albania tomorrow. are willing to accept their ideas.
– From tomorrow we are moving towards no more control over food at the border crossing. Namely, in the last seven days, several shipments of meat from Northern Macedonia entered our country and there was not a single control. We issued an order for no control. We decided to be the first to step towards that, and we hope that you want the same, said Nedimovic.
Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Matic said that the idea of ”Open Balkans” is the best idea in the region in the last few decades and that it is worth every effort, “both tonight and in the future”.
– I am sure that we can implement the “Open Balkans” initiative, because we have already done so much within CEFTA. We saw that we can all benefit from this type of agreement, said Matic, who said she was proud that the Western Balkans had created a single market in that sector and that roaming had been abolished.
Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy Kisic Tepavcevic stressed that the idea of the “Open Balkans” initiative is for all three countries to achieve economic development and increase the number of investments and jobs.
She said labor ministers had drafted a memorandum of understanding on free access to the labor market and expressed hope that the final version of the document would be completed soon, with the successful implementation of single work permits starting next year.
Albanian Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj expressed hope that the upcoming weekend will be successful and that it will contribute to the “Open Balkans” to happen as soon as possible.
– I am glad that we are here, thanks to the political will of our three leaders and that we give our business community all the benefits and bring prosperity to our region, said Ibrahimaj.
Source: MIA
