North of Kosovo – Opportunity for the Czech know-how

14.04.2016 / 14:04 | Aktualizováno: 26.04.2016 / 10:51

On March 30, 2016, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic Mr. Ivo Šilhavý visited the Minister of Local Government Administration Ljubomir Maric. Minister informed Mr. Ambassador about the new competencies of his Ministry related to promoting economic development in the north part of Kosovo. Minister offered the Embassy in Pristina, respectively Czech institutions, participation in the coordination of this process and participation in some projects focused on the economic development in the north part of Kosovo. Czech Republic's involvement in the program would create new business opportunities for the Czech companies.

One of the main goals of the program is the economic and social linking of the northern Kosovo, inhabited predominantly by the Serb minority, with the rest of the country and overcoming existing internal barriers. The means to reach this goal should be achieving economic development of the region, creating new business links between North and South of Kosovo, increasing skills and education of the population, especially of young people.

One of the four core projects concerns the improvement of qualifications of the population and is focused on the future market needs, the needs of the state and public administration. The second project is focused on agriculture, availability of modern agricultural technology, modern agricultural methods and their chance to sell agrarian products in a wider market of Kosovo. The last two projects are focused on tourism and the support of the business environment.

The Czech Republic could contribute the expertise from the structural reforms from the early 90s. In addition, the involvement in the economic development projects could create good opportunities for the Czech entrepreneurs.

One of the concrete proposals for the use of the Czech technology is the support of the construction of a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) for the municipality of Zubin Potok, which would become a part of the infrastructure projects for the economic development in the region.

The teams of the ministry and the municipality collaborate with the Kosovar Company Project Plus in preparation for the construction of the WWTP; the company is the implementer of the existing WWTP projects in the framework of the Czech foreign development aid in Kosovo.

Minister Maric offered Mr. Ambassador the possibility to arrange a visit to the Czech Republic, where he would (further) present a program of the economic development in the northern Kosovo, and the related opportunities for the Czech companies.

The project has, due to the localization in the north of Kosovo, not only an important development and consequently a business potential, but it also has an important political aspect in a spirit of the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.

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