Western Balkans

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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News archive - EU and WBC Chambres of Commerce form partnership

'PARTNERS for Investment Promotion', a project supported by the European Commission, brings together 18 chambers of commerce and industry from the Western Balkans and 15 Chambers from the EU. They will form cluster partnerships and, among others, conduct a survey on obstacles to foreign investment in the region.

Partners for Investment Promotion is a 18 months programme co- financed by the European Union which aims at helping the business communities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia to develop a favourable environment for attracting foreign investments (FDI).

The project was launched in May 2008 and is endowed with a total budget of approx. 1.1 million Euros.

Main project objectives:

to strengthen the role of Chambers of Commerce in the Western Balkans to attract and retain foreign direct investments
to provide policy makers in the EU and the Western Balkans with a view of the private sector on the status of investment reforms and further action needed
to increase contact between the Chambers from the EU and the 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

Eight Chamber partnerships will be created, each of them based on clusters of at least one EU and two Western Balkans Chambers and further involving public authorities and local actors. Each partnership will be centered around 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.

A survey will deal with the main obstacles to FDI in the region, based upon the consultation of around 1 000 companies of all sectors/sizes in the beneficiary countries plus approx. 1000 companies of all sectors/sizes in the EU. A comprehensive report on the private sector’s view on how to improve the investment climate in the WBC will be publicised and input to the OECD’s “Investment Reform Index” 2009 will be provided.

Ten selected middle/senior staff members of WBC companies will be selected to attend EUROCHAMBRES Academy, a top-range development programme for the Chamber Network.

Partners for Investment Promotion is a EUROCHAMBRES’ initiative supported by the European Union under CARDS 2005 Regional funding.

Source: Eurochambres Newsletter

Entry created by Katarina Rohsmann on November 10, 2008
Modified on November 11, 2008

Western Balkans Info Hub - powered by "Policy Answers" - is funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe project "R&I policy making, implementation and support in the Western Balkans", grant agreement: 10105887. The portal builds upon previous initiatives, such as for instance WBC-RTI.INFO and WBC-INCO.NET, which were funded under different Framework Programmes (FP) for Research and Technological Development (RTD) of the European Commission and other contracts.

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