Prishtinë, 26.01.2017 – Minister of Economic Development Blerant Stavileci, held a lecture to students of Iliria College Prishtina, where he presented investments made in the country with the aim of empowering the economy through information technology and innovation, because Kosovo is ranked as a country with priority due to the youth capacities that it has.

Speaking about investments in concrete projects, Stavileci emphasised infrastructure projects, energy and information technology, as preconditions for sustainable economic development.

“The biggest investments were made in infrastructure, namely in roads, railways and airways. After the motorway with Albania, in the end of the year we are expecting to finish the one that leads to Macedonia”, said Stavileci by adding that the Pristina International Airport conceded through a Public and Private Partnership model, is marking an increase in number of passengers and much better services from year to year.

According to him, once these projects are finished, Kosovo will have its own infrastructure, which is ready to be integrated into the regional and European infrastructure.

When talking about information technology and innovation, Minister Stavileci added that Kosovo has potential to be one of the developed countries in these fields.

“The Strengths of Kosovo in comparison to other countries is that over one third of population is under the age of 18, two thirds under the age of 35 which is a great advantage. We adapt very fast with novelties in the field of information technology, and we are a champion in the region in terms of speaking foreign languages, which is a great advantage” he said.

He also added that these are concrete facts and Kosovo can advance in digital economy, economy of knowledge and creativity.

“In order to give a further push to this vision, we have adopted several strategies where we have budgeted two funds, where one of them is for innovation, which will be in service of different businesses”, said Stavileci.

In terms of Energy Sector, the Minister of MED, stated that the biggest project in this sector, that of Power Plant ‘Kosova e Re’ is expected to start soon and is expected to solve the problem of energy supply, and in the meantime, being a direct foreign investment, it will boost the economic development.