Bregu: If everything goes well, we will have another 72 years to reach the EU's current level of development

2024-06-26 18:54:00, Aktualitet CNA

Bregu: If everything goes well, we will have another 72 years to reach the

General Secretary of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Majlinda Bregu

Paris - The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Majlinda Bregu, underlined the importance of regional initiatives for economic growth, through the promotion of competitiveness between the countries of the Western Balkans, at the OECD High Level Conference for Southeast Europe. "Driving Competitiveness, Achieving Convergence", in Paris.

"The Western Balkans is a very different region than it was 10 years ago. Regional cooperation proved to be a safe ship in a storm, with 80% of citizens fully supporting it. But as the region is still fraught with tension, its full potential has yet to be tapped. Therefore, the full implementation of the commitments made is a difficult necessity! Constant jams and jams are no longer affordable. The new phase of the Regional Common Market, a regionally owned process, is under preparation. Although it may not change the entire situation in the region, it will bring the region closer, quickly following the much-needed convergence," said Bregu.

Alongside the Coast, the opening session brought together high-level speakers, including Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Zdenko Luci?, State Secretary for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia , Mathieu Bousquet, Director at the European Commission's Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR) and Carlo Monticelli, Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank

"The Western Balkans lacks confidence in the power of the region's economic and trade ties. The yet-to-be-published Balkan Barometer Business Opinion data reveals two main obstacles driving such a perception: labor shortages and brain drain. But there is a possibility. The supportive environment can boost annual growth by 2%, attract up to 6.5% more investment, increase job growth rates by up to 1% per year and increase SME productivity by 5% to 10 %. Encouraging the free movement of labor across the Western Balkans brings opportunities to add a significant 1.3% to our GDP by 2025. If all goes well, we have another 72 years to reach the level today's development of the EU", added Bregu

Ms. Bregu highlighted the successes of regional integration through the Common Regional Market as a "gateway" for progressive integration into the EU's single market and its potential for creating self-sustainable socio-economic convergence.

"As the region tries to look forward with somewhat shaky hopes, we face an 8% drop in citizens' support for EU membership. It is clear that the Western Balkans needs a bolder and faster integration into the EU single market and an accelerated fully operationalized integration, with higher predictability of the future financial perspective to support dynamism and the new transformation to achieve better living standards and convergence. But at the end of the day, it's not just about money and the market, it's about values ??and also about our commitment to the hard work of reform, to fight corruption and build a common future", concluded Bregu ./ CNA