Kosovo's young people deserve a
better future
Ethem
Ceku
The end of the 1999 war opened a new chapter of history for the citizens of
Kosovo. We are forever grateful to the European and American civilizations for
the hand they extended - they made it possible for us to live freely and to
have the right to sovereign decision-making.
Since
February 2008, Kosovo is among the newest countries in the world, recognised by
76 members of the United Nations. New recognition should have an effect on the
country's access to international organisations as a fully-fledged member and a
democratic partner.
We
will never be able to demonstrate our credibility if we are not given a chance
to do so in international forums. On the other hand, our own institutions
should avoid risking relations with international bodies by non-compliance with
hard-won agreements.
Kosovo
is now in state-building mode and the task is not an easy one. Kosovo's men and
women are doing their best to cope with the challenges of a new country. Our
political class is fairly young and lacking the necessary experience in running
an open market economy.
Having
lived in a monist state for half a century, with a fully-centralised economy,
and then gone through the demolition of this structure in the 1990s by the
Serbian regime, Kosovo has struggled to cultivate political elite up to the job
of facing today's challenges.
Lack
of direct investment; an unemployment rate of up to 45 percent; poverty levels
of up to 17 percent; often inadequate courts; the remoteness of EU accession
prospects and strained relations with major bodies like the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) - all these stand in the way of Kosovo's development.
Prisitina
recently lost IMF soft loans to the amount of $87 million under a so-called
'Stand-by Arrangement' and relations were downgraded to a 'Staff Monitored
Program' which does not include financial assistance.
This
had a domino effect of stopping also European Commission loans of €50 million
and up to €20 million from other donors. The financial crisis has made the
international community wary of uncontrolled national spending.
The
main fear is that Kosovo is entering into long-term obligations on budgetary
expenditure while aiming to cover its growing deficit by one-off auctions, such
as privatisation of its Telecom firm or the Albania-Kosovo-Serbia highway
project.
Pristina
must eat a strict diet of macroeconomic sustainability to avoid being listed by
the IMF as a problem country. Its budget deficit of 5 percent of GDP is already
above EU criteria for euro zone eligibility.
Foreign
investment or other ways for domestic businesses to access external capital
would help. Unlike the many ageing European societies, Kosovo has a key
resource in attracting multinational investors - its young people. Young people
who are probably the cheapest workforce on the continent.
Kosovo
already has solid experience in mineral extraction and processing, coal,
electricity generation, metal processing, textiles, the food industry, the wood
industry and - most recently - rapid development in the IT sector. This
experience must now adapt to new market economy conditions.
The
World Bank says Kosovo is the 119th 'best' place on the globe to do business
out of 183.
In
the coming months, we hope to see bureaucratic barriers reduced. On top of
this, the ruling majority must foster a spirit of dialogue and co-operation
with the opposition in order to guarantee the long-term viability of
capital-intensive projects.
Political
consensus is vital for a country with a poorly-functioning judicial system.
Numbers in parliament do not always guarantee quality decisions.
The
presence of US and many EU diplomatic missions in Kosovo facilitate our
communication with the world at large - they should also serve as a bridge to
investments by their corporations in our country and the export of our products
and services further afield.
The writer is the former
minister of energy and mining of Kosovo. He is currently a lecturer on European
integration and globalisation at the University of Pristina
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