Balkan Nations Discuss in Thessaloniki About the Eradication of Poverty, Migration And

Balkan nations discuss in Thessaloniki about the eradication of poverty, migration and common issues

Haki Shatri chaired the session on migration and its consequences

Epoka e reArizona Dibra & Xhavit Nura

Prishtina, 30 May – A Kosovo delegation led by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Mr. Haki Shatri, participated in a conference organized by the World Bank on Labor markets, economic growth and poverty reduction strategy, held at the end of May in Thessaloniki, Greece. The delegation included the Minister of Health, Mr. Sadik Idriz, and representatives from the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Local Government Administration, civil society, World Bank, DFID, and other institutions. In addition, countries of the region were invited too, such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia. The main objective of the conference was the discussion the “Progress on the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy”, which is a project supported by the World Bank in these countries of the region. Discussion ensued on progress reports related to the project, implementation, international experiences and strategies of the European and Asian countries on poverty reduction, creation of new jobs, and economic growth. Mr. Shatri, Minister of Finance and Economy, chaired the session on migrations, workforce mobility and regional imbalances, during which the positive and negative effects of migrations in the economic development of the countries of the region were discussed. Minister Shatri, during the session on “Achievements and progress in the implementation the poverty reduction strategy”, talked about the National Development Plan of Kosovo to be drafted by the Government and other institutions of Kosovo with the support of international institutions. Mr. Shatri explained the importance of the drafting of National Development Plan, and also stressed that the poverty reduction strategy will be included in this plan as one of the top priorities. The other representative from Kosovo, Mr. Joachim Reucker from UNMIK Pillar IV, has also discussed the achievements in Kosovo, the good cooperation between the Kosovo authorities and UNMIK, and the challenges ahead. Mr. Ejup Osmani, adviser in the Ministry of Education had a discussion in the session “Education, skills and productivity of work”, whereas Mr. Driton Qehaja, adviser to the Prime Minister had a discussion in the session “Trends of unemployment”. The conference was organized and sponsored by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UNDP, DFID, and the Government of Greece.