Diaspora in Prizren: Not only as a pocket but as an intellectual potential.

In the Prizren municipality, nearly 20 conference participants were hosted at a meeting by the mayor of Mytaher Haskuka municipality and the Kosovo Parliament MP from Prizren, Drita Milaku.

According to the media report, during a meeting of about 2 hours, participants from the diaspora and Prizren chairman exchanged ideas, concrete projects for various areas of co-operation between them, but they also express their concerns about bureaucratic procedures that institutions put before foreign investors.

Representatives from the diaspora asked Haskuka to work in terms of providing rights for the diaspora and offers them opportunities to invest because the countries they live in have an interest in it.

Hilmi Gashi, who headed the diaspora group, and is also a member of the Germin Task Force from Switzerland, said the diaspora has the potential to contribute, and this has been proven during the conference's four days “stapora Fex1>.

“Don't just look at us as a pocket, but also as an intellectual potential and give us the right to vote and become an contributor”, Gashi said.

Mayor Haskuka already announced diaspora representatives for industrial projects and other projects Prizren is working to implement and where he sees opportunities for co-operation with the diaspora.

The next January “will also open the German-Kosovo innovation park, where there are 40 hectares of land and some 40-50 buildings that will be useful to Prizren for economic development”, Haskuka indicated among other things, citing Prizren needs diaspora expertise.

In this direction Mark Culay, the Electronic Engineering, who has returned from Italy to Kosovo, offers the mayor free expertise for five industrial projects.

In addition, Skender Perpepaj, businessman from the diaspora, who lives in the United Kingdom, stressed the importance of diaspora role in the world's market opening for local products. “We as diaspora are willing to contribute to concrete projects, especially to promotion and opening opportunities for local products in the markets of countries where we live”, he said.

During the discussion, she also talked about projects related to advancing the woman's position in Prizren, educating young people, twinning with other cities in the world, as well as projects on vulnerable social categories of both the elderly and the disabled.

In addition to the Prizren municipality, on the fourth day of the conference, groups of representatives of professionals from the Albanian diaspora are also meeting the mayors of two other Kosovo municipalities, the Kamenica chairman, and Agim Bahtiriin chairman of Mitrovica.

By contrast, the Diaspor conference is organised by non-governmental G organisation ErmIN, under the initiative for Structural Dialogue on Diaspora Rights.