Main Objectives

• To strengthen the role of Chambers of Commerce in the Western Balkans to attract and retain foreign direct investments (FDI).
• To provide policy makers in the EU and the Western Balkans with private sector’s view on the status of investment reforms and further actions needed.
• To increase contacts between EU and Western Balkans Chambers, and among Chambers in the region, in order to create a Chamber network to promote intra-regional exchanges, which can lead to long-term growth in FDI.

Main Activities

1) Creation of 8 Chamber partnerships

• Each of them based on clusters of at least 1 EU and 2 Western Balkans Chambers
• Involving public authorities and local actors as well
• Centered on one or more common area (s)/ theme(s) where the potential for FDI is to be exploited: tourism, food & beverages, renewable energies, ICT, centers of excellence.
• Publication of a comprehensive report on the private sector’s view on how to improve the investment climate in the Western Balkans
• Provision of the private sector input in the OECD’s “Investment Reform Index” 2009

2) Survey on main obstacles to FDI in the region

• Consultation of ca. 1 000 companies of all sectors/ sizes in the beneficiary countries plus ca. 1000 companies of all sectors/ sizes in the EU

3) Participation in EUROCHAMBRES Academies

• 10 middle/ senior staff from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia will be selected to attend EUROCHAMBRES Academy, a top-range development programme for the Chamber Network.

Organisation: Liaison Officers appointed in each of the six partner organisations. The project is endowed with a total budget of EUR 1.1 Mio and will run for a period of 18 months.

Source: Eurochambres Newsletter December 2008; http://www.eurochambres.eu/Content/Default.asp?PageID=218, as accessed on December 12, 2008.