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Economic team for Kosovo-Metohija and South of Serbia opens office in Gracanica
Gracanica,
27 June 2006
The Serbian government’s economic team for Kosovo-Metohija and South of Serbia has opened its office in Gracanica today.
Head of the economic team for Kosovo-Metohija and South of Serbia Nenad Popovic said that Albanian businesspeople should not be afraid of cooperation with Serbian businesspeople as only through connection and development of the economy can we move forward.
He described initiatives to boycott of Serbian goods as harmful and counter productive and expressed hope that the economic team’s office in Gracanica will be the first step in economic links.
Popovic announced the adoption of a national strategy for the development of Serb municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija in the next three months. He explained that it should define concrete projects based on small and family enterprises and added that the strategy will be conditional upon solving the issue of Kosovo’s future status.
Popovic again voiced his dissatisfaction with privatisation in Kosovo, adding that apart from all negative sides and discrimination in the Serbian province regarding privatisation, there were also cases of extreme breaches of human rights.
In a meeting with Managing Director of the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) Jasper Dick in Pristina, Popovic suggested that privatisation of large systems should wait until the province's status is determined.
He also said that privatisation should be postponed until investment risks are reduced, which will make the entire area more attractive for foreign direct investments.
"At the moment, it is unrealistic to expect that serious foreign investors will take part in privatisation because investment risks are enormous. This is illustrated by the fact that over 90% of privatised companies are in the hands of ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija or Kosovo Albanians living abroad", said Popovic.
He described initiatives to boycott of Serbian goods as harmful and counter productive and expressed hope that the economic team’s office in Gracanica will be the first step in economic links.
Popovic announced the adoption of a national strategy for the development of Serb municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija in the next three months. He explained that it should define concrete projects based on small and family enterprises and added that the strategy will be conditional upon solving the issue of Kosovo’s future status.
Popovic again voiced his dissatisfaction with privatisation in Kosovo, adding that apart from all negative sides and discrimination in the Serbian province regarding privatisation, there were also cases of extreme breaches of human rights.
In a meeting with Managing Director of the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) Jasper Dick in Pristina, Popovic suggested that privatisation of large systems should wait until the province's status is determined.
He also said that privatisation should be postponed until investment risks are reduced, which will make the entire area more attractive for foreign direct investments.
"At the moment, it is unrealistic to expect that serious foreign investors will take part in privatisation because investment risks are enormous. This is illustrated by the fact that over 90% of privatised companies are in the hands of ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija or Kosovo Albanians living abroad", said Popovic.
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