Prishtina, 17 May 2015 – Ministry of Economic Development (MED) has undertaken he initiative to establish and independent fund dedicated to supporting new companies and advancing information technology and innovations in Kosovo, based on the concept of public-private partnerships and in conformity with the Government’s strategic focuses, said today the head of this ministry, Minister Blerand Stavileci.

In the press conference organized with the aim of presenting the purpose and modalities of this fund’s operation, Minister Stavileci said that the initiative aims to entice common investments with private investors, which would increase the interest of international financial institutions for the establishment of an independent investment fund for supporting the ICT sector and innovations in the country.

According to him, the proposed fund would address, in an integrated and coordinated manner, some of the key problems and obstacles for access to funding identified to date, while adding that the Government will allocate an investment fund of 2 million euro, which will be coupled with an additional 2 million euro fund to be provided by donors and would spark an additional 2 million euro investment from the private sector, adding up to a total of 6 million euro.

The head of MED stated that he is convinced that the 6 million euro amount will spark an additional 6 million euro in investments from International Financial Institutions and diaspora, whereas the fund will provide finances for new companies and enhance ICT development in general, with investments ranging between 20.000 and 500.000 euro.

“Means from the Fund will start yielding returns from investments from the third year onwards, and being that the fund is re-investible, at least for the part of the public investors, by the fifth year of its existence the fund would reach 17.6 million euro,” said Stavileci.

Minister Stavileci said that the feasibility of the fund is based on the general developments in this sphere, according to which general economic development can’t be imagined in absence of a digital economy.

He said that the Fund aims to create some 11 thousand jobs within five years, whereas its disbursement will be based on three enterprise support criteria: employment, education and innovation.

Otherwise, fund management will be conducted by a specialized private manager, without any government influence, so as to vest the Fund with credibility which would open way for the contribution of additional means by donors and investment funds, whereas its functionalization is envisaged during the current