Delay in the formation of institutions harms the economy, Zeka calls for political stability and effective dialogue

Delays in the formation of new institutions, such as the Parliament and the Government, have a detrimental impact on the private sector and the country's economic development.

This is what the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, Arian Zeka, says, while underlining that the unresolved political issue between Kosovo and Serbia continues to be the biggest problem for our country, KosovaPress reports.

Parliamentary elections in Kosovo were held on February 9. The first party to emerge from these elections was Vetëvendosje, the second was PDK. While LDK was third and the AAK-Nisma coalition was ranked fourth. After the publication of the final results, their certification by the Central Election Commission (CEC) is also expected.

In an interview with KosovaPress, Zeka says that investors, both domestic and foreign, require political stability and clear executive and legislative power to ensure a favorable environment for investment and economic development.

"Both domestic and foreign investors seek political stability, regulatory clarity, and require an executive and legislative branch with which they can work, share their concerns, and to whom they can offer their recommendations so that they can be improved or implemented later... Any delay in the constitution of the Assembly and the creation of the new government would be problematic for both private sector enterprises and the country's economy in general," says Zeka, KosovaPress reports.

Zeka also underlines that the unresolved political issue between Kosovo and Serbia continues to remain one of the main problems hindering Kosovo's progress, affecting, as he says, the overall development of the country and the Western Balkans region.

"Regarding the quality of relations between the US and Kosovo, it has been said by the previous administration several times that the quality has deteriorated, especially in the recent period. The US has not asked Kosovo for anything more than to implement the commitments it has made over the past years, including the Ohrid Agreement and the technicalities that have derived from the agreement. Which of course, the Government of Kosovo and the state of Serbia have not been very willing to implement. We share the same opinion with the US government and other international partners that this issue between Kosovo and Serbia, an unresolved issue, continues to be the biggest problem for Kosovo and consequently we cannot have any visible progress as long as such a problem weighs on Kosovo and on all the countries of the Western Balkans, which at the same time are at the bottom of the list of countries within the European continent in terms of the level of economic development," says Zeka.

Meanwhile, he also spoke about relations between the US and Kosovo. According to him, there is no innovation, roadmap, or other decision that could affect relations between the US and Kosovo.

"At the moment, there is a continuity of policies that the previous administration has applied towards Kosovo. There is no innovation, guideline, or other decision that could affect relations between the US and Kosovo. We have probably seen it in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I don't know how fair it is to draw such a parallel. However, the US State Department has issued a statement condemning the actions of one party that aims to undermine the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the principles of the Dayton Agreement. Which means that, if we draw a similar parallel, the US administration may have the same approach towards Kosovo, as it has applied in recent years," says Zeka.

He also criticized the lack of effective dialogue between the public and private sectors, noting that the American Chamber of Commerce has submitted over 70 legal comments and recommendations to institutions over the last four years, but many of them, according to him, have not been taken into account.

"The American Chamber of Commerce has continued to be active in providing recommendations and comments on various legal initiatives, both for primary and secondary legislative acts. Public-private dialogue has not been at the most satisfactory level. Throughout the four years of the government, the National Council for the Economy and Investment has only met in 2024, and then, when we considered that it was perhaps being done for electoral purposes, knowing that 2024 was a pre-election year. We are now in March and no dialogue mechanism has met. The American Chamber of Commerce has submitted over 70 comments or recommendations over the past four years. Very few of these well-elaborated ones have been taken into account, which is regrettable," says Zeka.

Despite the fact that the business community has repeatedly asked the Government to prioritize economic development and at the same time to support businesses, the executive has not met their expectations. Even though the private sector is considered a guarantee of sustainable economic development./kp/