ECIKS - News and analysis about Kosovo Economy in English

Prishtina, 2 April 2007 - The Free Trade Agreement for Central and Southeastern Europe should have started being implemented today.

However, the agreement has been postponed. According to Kosovar Minister of Trade and Industry, Bujar Dugolli, the agreement has to be ratified by all countries involved before its implementation begins.

During a visit last week to the Kosovo Tax Administration, Minister of Economy and Finances, Haki Shatri said that with the implementation of the CEFTA Agreement, customs duties will be removed, meaning that the the Tax Administration and the Customs Service of Kosovo will have a new model for collecting taxes.

Kosovo Coordinator in the Stability Pact , Mr. Gazmend Qorraj, said that the implementation of CEFTA Agreement was supposed to begin today. However, regional relations and cooperation are a bit problematic if we bear in mind that this agreement includes the countries of South-Eastern Europe whose parlaments should ratify the agreement. We knew that there was a chance for the implementation to be postponed, but we expect it to happen during the next few months.

“The prime ministers of the countries of South-Eastern Europe promised that the agreement would be ratified. However, this has happened only in Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo, which is still very positive" said Qorraj.

Concerning the issue of how the agreement would contribute to Kosovo’s economic development, Qorraj is quoted as saying “the agreement provides a great possibility for world known companies to invest in Kosovo,".

ECIKS