JEDDAH, 20 August 2006 — In a meeting held yesterday, a delegation from the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce delivered a presentation to a group of businessmen at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry about positive investment opportunities in Kosovo.
Coming out of a destructive war and going through a transition phase from socialism to capitalism, Kosovo is now open and eager for foreign investment, especially from Muslim countries.
The delegation presented incentives and opportunities available to a small but interested audience of businesses from different sectors in Saudi Arabia including the tourism, agriculture and industrial sectors.
Mustafa Lutolli, official Arabic translator speaking on behalf of Safet Gerxhaliu from the Office for International Economic Affairs, who had to travel to Germany to sign a trade agreement, explained that Kosovo is privatizing all government owned properties and businesses except the railway, postal services and television.
“There is a process ongoing now and will continue for a few years of transferring ownership from the government to the private sector by selling them under the supervision of the UN. We invite you to come and participate in the bidding. The prices are very attractive. There are already western investors but we would like to have Muslim investors,” he said.
The Kosovo Chamber’s role is to facilitate and provide information to potential investors. The list of business and the bidding participation deadlines are posted on the country’s and chamber’s website www.odaekonomike.org.
Lutolli spoke of the rich mining sector in Kosovo, the natural and mineral water sector which he said is as good as France’s, the agriculture and livestock sector, the food and dairy industry sector as well as the tourism sector, all of which are very high quality but have suffered in the long civil war and are in need of development.
Advantages cited by the delegation in investing Kosovo include cheap labor, proximity to the European market and usage of the Euro in transactions as well as positive investment incentives such as guarantees by the World Bank and some international banks, new relaxed investment regulations and less taxes.
Reconstruction and construction projects are very important now in Kosovo especially of vital infrastructure, essential facilities and factories.
The Kosovan Ministry of Trade and Industry organized a trade fair last month in the capital Prishtina exhibiting all the different investment opportunities in Kosovo and some businesses from other countries, which included a booth by the Saudi Al-Ansar Hotels from Madinah that signed an agreement with the Ministry of Endowments to facilitate Kosovans coming for Haj and Umrah.
It was suggested at the end of the discussions yesterday that the delegation and the Saudi businessmen organize an exhibition or seminar in Saudi Arabia soon.
