​Kosovo is constantly becoming attractive when it comes to attracting foreign investors and increasing exports to the markets of other European countries.

This is what Zef Dedaj, general director of the Agency for Investments and Enterprise Support in Kosovo (KIESA) emphasized during the second Panel of the regional conference, with the theme: "What does Kosovo and the countries of the region offer to investors?".

According to Dedaj, in the January-June period of this year, foreign investments are 39 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Dedaj, at the regional conference organized by the Chamber of Trade and Industry Kosovo, today in Pristina, said that by the end of the year, the value of exports is expected to reach one billion euros.

Dedaj: Investments and exports marked a significant increase in 2022

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"For the first six months, it turned out that we have 312 million euros of investments or a 39 percent increase for the first six months compared to the same period last year. Last year, Kosovo had a 22 percent increase in investments, or less than 500 million. If we refer to the statistics, there is a trend of increasing investments so that by the end of the year we will have a significant increase in investments. Likewise, last year we had 714 million euros in export value, while for the first half of this year we have 526 million euros. Here, too, there is a tendency to approach the value of 1 billion by the end of the year", he emphasized.

In this regional conference attended by representatives of institutions from Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, local and international partners and organizations, and representatives of businesses from the three countries, Dedaj said that Kosovo has the lowest taxes compared to the countries of the region.

In this panel, Dragana Shofranac, Project Manager at the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, said that their country has favorable taxes for foreign investments.

Shofranac: We have the lowest corporate tax

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"We are a small economy and the potential financial assets are not enough to finance the investments from our side alone... But we have the lowest corporate tax which is a profitable 12 percent, we also have other facilitating indicators for investors of foreigners in the production process", she said.

According to her, there is a favorable climate for investments in Montenegro in the tourism sector.

Edin Fakiq, head of the sector for customer and investor care in North Macedonia, said that in his country there is an increase in foreign investments due to a good image and many facilities.

For this he said that Kosovo and Albania are trying to take as an example the favorable climate for investments from North Macedonia.

Fakiq: Kosovo and Albania are trying to follow the example of North Macedonia

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"Obviously, investors are coming from Kosovo, Montenegro, which we consider to be from the region. Some of the countries of Europe are attractive for investments in our country due to free expenses and low taxes, and we have created conditions for the arrival of foreign investors. Albania and Kosovo are trying to take North Macedonia as an example. So, we seek cooperation with Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro", said Fakiq.

Meanwhile, in the third panel with the topic "Chambers and challenges of business support" within the regional conference, Nebi Hoxha, president of the Economic Chamber of North-Western Macedonia, said that regional cooperation is important, although there are still delays in construction of road infrastructure from the side of Skopje towards the border with Kosovo.

Despite this, there is a rapid increase in trade exchanges between Kosovo and North Macedonia.

Hoxha: There is an increase in trade exchanges, the road from Skopje to Kosovo is a challenge

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"This cooperation over the years has been even higher, but in recent years we see a change in the commercial exchange between Macedonia and Kosovo, and the latest statistics for the 6th month of this year show a sudden increase in Kosovo's exports to Macedonia. The export of goods from Macedonia to Kosovo is about 200 million euros and the import is about 80 million... The problems that appear in regional cooperation, where we as a chamber have always appealed, are in addition to the issue of the approach of our governments, there is also the problem of the infrastructure that connects us our countries. Kosovo has done a great job in terms of road infrastructure, it has a modern highway, while on the other hand, Macedonia has stalled for a very small part and is still not able to built it," said Hoxha.

He also focused on the education of new professional staff, which according to him are not sufficient in the region.

In this conference, Skënder Krasniqi, president of the Chamber of Trade and Industry Kosovo, said that the countries of the region should be more unified in order to have economic development and an increase in the employment rate in the region.

Krasniqi: Thanks to cooperation, we have solved many businesses problems

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"Thanks to this cooperation, we, together with other countries in the region, have solved many business problems, as mentioned by Mr. Hoxha, the last case was when thanks to the support of the Chamber of Macedonia, Kosovo has managed to be a part of the World Economic Forum, but also when the Chamber of Macedonia needed help, we have supported it, such as the case of barges being blocked, where businesses complained about the 1000 tax euro for a truck freight, and we have solved this problem within two days. Even though it is the first meeting, we believe that we will have good cooperation with Montenegro by solving the problems, in order to be more competitive and unifying for the increase of production, employment and the increase of our well-being and to have access to the European and more powerful market", said Krasniqi.

As for chambers, Krasniqi said that the legal infrastructure for the work of chambers of commerce should be created.

Meanwhile, Mladen Peraziq, director of the Education Sector in the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, emphasized that the countries of the region should invest more in education and professional training, so that young people do not flee to Western countries.

Meanwhile, the local producers participating in this conference, especially milk producers and processors, asked the authorities of North Macedonia to remove tariff and customs barriers, and to create facilities for the movement of these goods.