Businesses require support from Government: Priority Removing Customs Tax for First Class

Producers demand that local institutions take an example of neighbouring countries, where investment companies there, are free from tax to profit and salary.

Although faced with many challenges, producers expressed confidence that their products compete with European ones.

The owner of the company “Meka”, Burim Piraj, has demanded that the customs tax for cans be removed, as CEFTA member states have done.

We're paying customs fees today, to this day we're paying customs fees in cans. We have talked to the finance minister, but we hope to consider that since 2006 members who are in CEFTA do not pay these taxes, only Kosovo producers. Kosovo's output should be free of these taxes and should be equal to others that indeed in our country we are mistreated”, Piraj said.

Although he says it is challenging to do business in Kosovo, Piraj says he does it with great satisfaction.

Says Kosovo products have no difference with world products.

I am saying full sense of the word with full conviction there are no better quality products than in Kosovo in the region, but they are competitive with European ones and beyond. It's extremely quality production and very healthy as to that food being produced in Kosovo, and others are being exported to Switzerland to Germany, everywhere like furniture like other things, as well as the knowledge of Kosovars full of different projects are competing in the world, receiving tenders all over the world, we are the ones who can change ourselves, we are the ones who have to have a huge confidence in ourselves, and there is no doubt that we should rely on our forces and go before” he says.

And the owner of the company “Frutex”, Shaqir Palushi, told Online Economy that greater support comes from the Ministry of Commerce about the possibility of participating in fairs.

“If we are talking about support, the greatest support on the part of the Ministry of Trade and Industry is as far as participating in various fairs that have also brought us access to expansion in international markets, but this for someone is insufficient because production would need more support than that when we see that we can crack into a market of 2 million people as if there were more support for<1>, Palushi said, as Kosovo institutions have asked to take example North Macedonia.

If we take an example of North Macedonia, there for companies that invest, they are free from tax in profit for 5 years, as well as pay taxes. All of this certainly wouldn't have to accumulate this profit and benefit for ourselves, but we can reorient more of the product range or increase production capacities”, he said further.

Therefore, if despite these difficulties, it is still worth investing and producing in Kosovo because we lack some difficulties, however, but we have some convenience even in the West to create business alone is not easy. There, of course, only the beginning, confronting various permits then taxes are more multiplied, here in Kosovo, yet taxes are at the lowest level, and this in a way yet still makes Kosovo attractive, but not perhaps to the extent it would be needed and not to the capacity and opportunities Kosovo has to create more producers and more products”, Palushi said.