Companies of Western Balkans Seeking Urgent Removal of Business and Economic Barriers in the Region

Companies from the Western Balkans have sent a joint appeal to their governments and political structures of the region to do everything in their power to enable the business sector to operate as smoothly as possible and to turn to the future and joint regional cooperation, the CCIS announced.

“Provide the citizens of the region with a future, not the past” is the joint message of all the presidents of the chambers of commerce of the Western Balkans to their countries’ governments. The message was sent from the session of the Managing Board of the Western Balkans Six Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF), the association which gathers the chambers of commerce of North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia.

The business people are seeking an urgent removal of all business and economic barriers in the region, especially those that are a consequence of the poor political relations between Belgrade, Pristina and Sarajevo. The governments in Sarajevo and Pristina are being asked to enact a mutual removal of visa requirements and all other obstacles to the freedom of movement. Mutual recognition of registration plates and vehicle insurance is also requested, because problems related to this affect the freedom of movement and business operations, which leads to unnecessary costs for companies.

– The chambers of commerce of the Western Balkans have also sent a clear message to the European Union that the further blockage of the implementation of visa liberalization for the residents of Kosovo is unacceptable. Preventing a free flow of citizens and the economy directly violates the basic human rights and the European legal acquis. The chambers of commerce of the region remind Brussels that it was visa liberalization that was a turning point and the biggest boost to the economic development of all the countries of the Western Balkans – the press release says.

The common estimate of the chambers is that the initiative to remove the PCR test obligation when it comes to the traveling of the citizens between the countries of the region, which was adopted at the initiative of the chambers of commerce, has had a great effect on the operations of companies.

Privredna komora Srbije

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Western Balkans Six Chamber Investment Forum

removal of PCR test obligation

visas

visa requirements

recognition of registration plates

vehicle insurance