Kosovo-Macedonia cooperation must be raised to a higher level Prishtina, 12.05.2016 - The Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia must intensify cooperation in areas of common interest such as energy, infrastructure and others that fall within regional cooperation. This was said today by the Minister of Economic Development of Kosovo, Blerand Stavileci and Minister of Economy of Macedonia, Driton Kuqi, during a joint press conference in Prishtina. Minister Stavileci said that he and his Macedonian counterpart agreed that the level of cooperation must be raised to another level, based on the fact that there have been several mutual agreements signed between our countries. "We would like to change the direction in the positive sense, especially in terms of the pace of development, in other words, to materialize them and start concrete activities and projects," said Stavileci. He said that knowing the fact that both countries are partners in all regional initiatives, including those that arise from the Berlin process – within whose agenda is the transport network in the Western Balkan states and inter-connectivity in the field of energy – this cooperation must be taken further. "In this context, it is very important for the Eastern European countries, especially those which are our neighbors, to have projects with which we would link better with one another, and with which we would link with other platforms, especially in terms of the regional market," said Stavileci, using as a reference the positive cooperation in these areas between Kosovo and Albania. The head of MED said that the practice of cooperation with Albania, which includes an energy highway of 400 kV as well as projects that will have an impact on future developments in the common markets, can be sought out as well with the Republic of Macedonia, in order to create an integrated regional market. "Our respective delegations have pledged to renew these previous ideas and see how we could advance them in order to connect our countries in terms of physical infrastructure but also in terms of construction of energy capacities, with which we can complement one another, and with which we influence the security of supply, not only for Kosovo and Macedonia, but also for other countries," said Stavileci, adding that this will give a new breathing to both countries. For his part, Minister of Economy of Macedonia, Driton Kuqi said the two countries have already set a solid basis for the establishment of new cooperation projects in the interest of citizens of both countries. "During the meeting they discussed about the current joint energy projects such as the second Macedonia-Kosovo inter-connection of 400 kV, where now both countries receive authenticity research as well as there has been an Operating Agreement was signed between MEPSO and KOSTT which regulates systems interconnection cooperation between Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Kosovo", he added. Kuqi further said that he and his colleague Stavileci agreed on the importance of developing gas-transmission systems for the two countries, since according to the feasibility studies for the gas-transmission system in Macedonia, among the 6 additional interconnection potentials projected is the inter-connection with Kosovo which will add more security of energy supply. According to him, cooperation is done on the basis of 28 agreements signed between the two countries, however, this cooperation is expected to be made more concrete by the working groups of the two ministries. Prishtina, 12.05.2016 - The Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia must intensify cooperation in areas of common interest such as energy, infrastructure and others that fall within regional cooperation. This was said today by the Minister of Economic Development of Kosovo, Blerand Stavileci and Minister of Economy of Macedonia, Driton Kuqi, during a joint press conference in Prishtina.

Prishtina, 11.05.2016 – Information and electronic communication sector is one of the sectors with highest potential for economic development. This was said today by the Minister of Economic Development Blerand Stavileci during a visit made at the advanced ICT company ‘Gjirafa’ in Prishtina.

Prishtina, 04.05.2016 - The World Bank has reaffirmed its continued support for Kosovo's energy sector as well as other sectors. This was stated today by the Executive Director of the World Bank, Frans Godts, who was accompanied by the Minister of Economic Development, Blerand Stavileci. Together they visited the premises of power plants Kosova A and Kosova B, where the corporation’s management informed them about the work and challenges they face.

Prishtina, 28.04.2016 - "The department of Information Technology and Communication (ICT) is one of the sectors that can give a great contribution to the economic growth of our country as well as greater involvement of female potential in this field", said the Minister of Economic Development, Blerand Stavileci at the opening of the conference "Gender and ICT", which was held today at the American University of Kosovo in Prishtina.

Prishtina 13 April 2016 – Deputy Minister of Economic Development Besa Zogaj-Gashi met with the EBRD Director for the Western Balkans Mr. Holger Muent, accompanied by the working team, who are staying in Kosovo to draft the "Kosovo Strategy – EBRD", which will serve the function of continuing and deepening the support of EBRD, for financing the economy and local businesses of Kosovo.

Prishtina, 13.4.2016 – Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Besa Zogaj – Gashi, had a meeting with the head of the Greek Liaison Office in Pristina, Constantina Athanassiadou, accompanied by the Secretary General for International Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Mr. Yiorgos Tsipras, with whom he discussed on economic cooperation between the two countries which, according to the parties, should continue to be strengthened.

Prishtina, 12.04.2016 - "We're committed towards stabilizing the energy sector and at the same time strengthening it with new generating capacity and rehabilitating existing ones," said Deputy Minister of Economic Development Besa Zogaj-Gashi during a meeting with the Director of the Balkans Office for Assistance Emil Vasilev as part of the Balkan Association of Small Business.

Prishtina, 04.05.2016 - "The Government of Kosovo is committed to solve the issues of Kosovo citizens as soon as possible, especially issues dealing with basic living conditions such as water", said Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economic Development Besa Zogaj-Gashi, while visiting the villages of Boletin, Kelmend and Zhash, located in the north of Mitrovica.

Prishtina, 01.04.2016 - Deputy Minister of Economic Development Besa Zogaj-Gashi, met with Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry of Albania, Gëzim Musabelliu, and talked about intensifying cooperation between the two countries in the mining area.Deputy Minister Gashi informed her counterpart about the achievements as well as the commitment of the Government in the field of mining and geology.