A one-stop shop for investors to increase the attractiveness of the region
A new e-tool has been launched at the EBRD Western Balkans Investment Summit in London. It will facilitate market access and increase the region’s attractiveness for foreign direct investment, a key driver of growth in emerging markets.
The regional online investment platform will provide a one-stop shop for foreign investors interested in the Western Balkans. It was developed by the regional chamber of commerce, the Chamber Investment Forum, established in July 2017 and bringing together the national chambers of the six Western Balkan countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.
Launching the platform with Chamber Investment Forum Chairman Marko Cadez, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said: “This platform has the potential to become an indispensable tool for foreign investors and the business community in the region. . The regional chamber itself is an excellent project. I must also emphasize that the initial initiative came from the leaders of the Chambers of Commerce of Kosovo and Serbia, a strong symbol of stability in the region.”
Marko Cadez added: “I would like to express my gratitude to the EBRD for its support for private sector development in the Western Balkans in general and for this project in particular. This platform will be another useful tool for chambers of commerce. This will help us create quality initiatives to remove business barriers and harmonize regulations, procedures and practices for more efficient business operations of companies.
The inauguration of the platform took place in the presence of the prime ministers of the six Western Balkan countries – Edi Rama, Albania; Denis Zvizdić, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Zoran Zaev, FYR of Macedonia; Ramush Haradinaj, Kosovo; Duško Marković, Montenegro; and Ana Brnabić, Serbia – who participated in the Western Balkans Investment Summit at the EBRD.
Under the leadership of President Chakrabarti, the EBRD launched regular meetings of Western Balkan Prime Ministers at the Bank’s headquarters in 2014 with the aim of supporting regional cooperation, increasing the visibility and attractiveness of the region and encourage investments.
The EBRD is one of the largest institutional investors in the Western Balkans. To date, the Bank’s investments in the six countries of the region exceed 10 billion euros in some 600 operations. In addition, the EBRD is also actively engaged in policy engagement to support sustainable and inclusive growth, in line with the Bank’s six transition qualities, which state that an economy must be competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient and integrated.