The Washington Agreement will accelerate Kosovo and the Balkans' economic growth”

The chairman of the American Chamber of Economics of Kosovo, Arian Zeka, has said that the economic agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, signed on September 4th in Washington, will bring benefits to Kosovo and the region in general.

One of the points of the agreement is that of Pristina-Merdare railway traffic and that Nis-Pristina.

Zeka, in a proposal for Online Economy, says extending railway traffic to the Adriatic Sea, will help turn Kosovo into a connective knot with Balkan states, but also for the region.

The extension of railway traffic to a port in the Adriatic Sea, which we assume will be the port of Durres, will help Kosovo become a knot with Balkan states, but also for the wider region, making more of the economic advantage from the central geographical position it has in the Western Balkans region”, Zeka has said.

He has said investment in these strategic infrastructure projects will have chain effects on the economic development of Kosovo and Balkans in general

“Investing on these strategic infrastructure projects will have a multi-progressive effect even on other Kosovo economic chain, but also on states, about which to impact the acceleration of Kosovo's economic growth and the Balkans at large”, Zeka has said.

In addition to the aspect of infrastructure investments, the September 4th agreement envisions financial security for credit support required for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

And according to Zeka, it is important that companies have access to finance, to invest in other projects, which are not specified in the agreement.

He citing the possibility of investments in Brezovica, he has said that the Government should be well prepared to provide experienced companies in managing these capital centres.

What's important in this regard is that Kosovo and potential companies that want to invest in the Brezovica resort or other similar projects can benefit from American financial support”.

The government would have to be much better prepared for the concession of Brezovica, so that it could attract serious international companies that have the right experience in managing similar recreation centers, so that then we could put this important asset in service of the country's economic development and job creation”, Zeka said.

He has said that fruits from the deal can be seen soon, but that depends also on the will of two states how quickly they will respond to the pledges provided for signing the agreement.

Zeka, has said that the American Economic Oda has given some ideas before the signing of this agreement, which have found seats in the agreement between the two states with US mediation, such as the idea of railway traffic between the two states, but also the need for a functioning of the common border crossing at Merdare, which would have to affect the acceleration of border crossing procedures and goods deployment by further enhancing economic co-operation.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, attended the signing ceremony. The agreement was signed in the presence of US President Donlad Trump.

The United States became more involved in this dialogue, as on October 4, 2019, President Trump named Richard Green as his special envoy in the talks.