The study is part of the project supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy with the goal of promoting the development of the Network of Parliamentary Committees for Economy and Finance of Western Balkan Countries.
Opening the gathering, the National Assembly Speaker, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, emphasised the importance of exchanging ideas and positive experiences among the Western Balkan countries in the European integration and reform process, where economic cooperation has pride of place.
The Chairperson of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy, Aleksandra Tomic, said that the study gives an overview of the business environment in the region, implemented regulatory reform and a desirable plan of future activities the Western Balkan countries need to implement in order to overcome their economic problems.
The participants were addressed by the Chairperson of the Network of Parliamentary Committees for Economy and Finance of Western Balkan Countries, member of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, Vladanka Avirovic, and the Chairperson of the Montenegrin Parliament’s Committee for Economy and Finance, Aleksandar Damjanovic, who described the importance of regional cooperation and interparliamentary cooperation in particular, for achieving progress and economic development in Western Balkan countries.
The Head of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy Europe Programmes, Alex Romaniuc, deemed the fact that the regional cooperation implemented by the Network of Parliamentary Committees for Economy and Finance of Western Balkan Countries, was created in the region and works for the needs of the region is of key importance as this sends the message that the Western Balkans are ready to take over the responsibility and initiative to overcome their problems.
The author of the study Economic and European Perspectives of Western Balkan Countries, Slavica Penev, presenting the regional study, said that it provides a database and a map showing where the region is at. She deemed the parliaments in the region have established very good cooperation.
The Chairperson of the European Integration Committee, Milica Delevic, stressed that the Western Balkan countries are in the process of Euro-integration and internal reform and that the study gives a good comparative overview of how far the reform process has progressed and of the specificities of each society.
The study was also discussed by its reviewer, Prof. Fikret Causevic of the Sarajevo Faculty of Economics, and Vlastimir Vukovic of the Belgrade Institute of Economic Sciences.
The promotion of the study was attended by parliamentarians, government representatives and experts from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, as well as representatives of international organisations. The participants also watched the film on the Network of Parliamentary Committees for Economy and Finance of Western Balkan Countries, created in 2009 at the regional parliamentary conference in Belgrade, with the aim of advancing the cooperation among the parliaments in the region.