AAB College in partnership with: “Aleksandër Moisiu” University – Durrës, “FON University” – Macedonia, Faculty of Economics, University of Osijek – Croatia, Institute for Scientific Research and Development – Ulcinj, organized the 2nd International Conference – “Economic Sustainability of the Balkan countries and the Euro-integration challenges ”, which gathered over 100 researchers from the country, the region and Europe.
The opening of this conference was made by the Vice Rector of AAB College, Shemsedin Vehapi, who in his speech said that this year, as last year, they have decided that the focus of this conference will be economic stability and the road to the European Union as a region as a whole.
He said that in the current phase of Kosovo, but also the countries of the region have challenges to overcome ahead, while according to him, economic stability is not only a European criterion to be assessed, but also represents a safe perspective for the well-being of all.
According to Vice Rector Vehapi, scientific work leads to the solution of many of the important problems that our society faces, one of which is the increase of economic development.
“For AAB College, which is the largest non-public investment in the Albanian environment and in the region, which has close to 20 thousand students and employs close to 700 academic staff, research is a basic component, making efforts in the first place for our students, to connect teaching with scientific research, but also with the organization of scientific conferences, with various partners to help our society with the findings and recommendations of our research “, stressed Vice Rector Vehapi.
He added that only such meetings, profiled to share experiences and scientific findings, as well as their application in society, can improve our daily lives.
While, the Minister of Finance, Bedri Hamza, said that “conferences like this remind us that we live in a region where we share many common characteristics, in which we share the benefits, but also the challenges, so we should as often as possible discuss together all the important issues where we can be effective in addressing them.”
According to him, the economies of the region in general have managed to recover from the effects of the recent global crisis, however he claims that fiscal consolidation in these countries continues to be very necessary to create a larger fiscal space which would reduce risks and would create greater opportunities to use the state budget for more productive activities.
“Currently, the average public debt ratio in relation to the gross domestic product in the countries of the region is over 50%. “In recent years, the countries of the region have been more successful in increasing budget revenues, but better expenditure management is required in order to improve fiscal finances and expenditures to be oriented towards more productive destinations,” said Minister Hamza.
Regarding economic growth in our country, Minister Hamza said that based on a preliminary assessment for 2017, Kosovo has had 3.7% economic growth, which according to him, is higher than the regional average of 2.4%.
“Kosovo is one of the countries with the fastest economic growth in the region. “Despite this economic growth, Kosovo cannot address its main challenges which are the high trade deficit and the high unemployment rate,” he said.
Minister Hamza in this conference made a presentation for the participants on the topic “Economic Sustainability in the Republic of Kosovo”, in which he mentioned in more detail the achievements so far, as well as the challenges that Kosovo faces in terms of growth of economic development.
A speech at this conference was also deliveredby prof. dr. Ervin Myftaraj from the University “Aleksandër Mojsiu” – Durrës, who in the capacity of co-organizer of this scientific conference said that with this cooperation with AAB College it is proven that these two institutions are serving to increase the quality of teaching and advancement in research.
“This conference aims to strengthen the connection and further expand the nationwide and international cooperation between specialists in the field of economics, academics in this field and all private and public sector actors in the fields of economy in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia. and beyond “, said Prof. Dr.Ervin Myftaraj.
Also, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, Arian Zeka, in his speech said that the countries of the Western Balkans have had a past with many problems with each other, but according to him, through economic cooperation the wounds of old conflicts can be healed.
The welcoming speech at this conference was delivered by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics of AAB College as the host of this conference, who among other things said that the purpose of this conference is to promote scientific debate among experts, professors, students, researchers, various businesses. who present economic challenges they face through research forms or scientific findings.
The proceedings of the 2nd International Conference – “Economic Sustainability of the Balkan countries and the challenges of Euro integration”, continued to be presented in separate sessions in the halls of AAB College, where certificates were awarded to all participants in this conference.
AAB College has so far conducted a large number of scientific projects with various local and international partners.
