TIRANA – The leaders of the Western Balkan six countries, who had an online summit at the invitation of the Atlantic Council of the United States, committed to facilitate and promote concrete steps toward regional economic development in order to stimulate post-COVID-19 economic recovery, the Atlantic Council said on Wednesday as quoted by MIA.
It will also boost the region’s long-term competitiveness, and strengthen its attractiveness for investors.
The leaders said that people in the WB region need to set tangible progress, soon.
“The COVID19 pandemic threatens to cut economic activity in the region drastically, while regional economic integration can raise GDP by more than 10 percent,” said the Washington-based think tank.
Speaking during the Summit Albanian PM Edi Rama expressed the concern that Albania and some other regional countries are being affected by the drop of the number of visitors in tourism which has hit the economy. “Under these conditions we can be compensated by larger and faster cooperation,” he said.
The Regional Cooperation Council has a special role in providing a framework for progress and preparations ahead of the Sofia Summit to be held in November, according to the conclusions of Wednesday’s online summit. /argumentum.al