Improving economic cooperation with Albania

In accordance with the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation, the first meeting of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Albania was held in Belgrade on 15 and 16 of April 2015.

The Serbian delegation was headed by Stevan Nikčević, State Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, while the Albanian delegation was led by Mrs. Brunilda Paskali, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship.

The discussions at the meeting included the analysis of opportunities for further development of cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as: trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, environmental protection, information technology and tourism.

It was agreed to ratify and sign the following agreements by the end of this year: Agreement on international road transport of persons and goods, Agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism, Memorandum on cooperation in the field of energy and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

Joint activities were announced in order to create the conditions for the implementation of the recently signed agreement in the field of customs cooperation and combating of customs offenses between the two countries.

The possibilities of realization of strategically important projects at a regional level in the fields of road and railway infrastructure and energy infrastructure were also discussed.

When it comes to cooperation on the basis of the multilateral CEFTA agreement, which both countries are members of, the possibilities of overcoming the obstacles in the marketing of pharmaceuticals on the market of the Republic of Albania, as well as the issues registered as non-tariff barriers to trade between them within CEFTA were also discussed.