PRISTINA, 19.11.2020 – The Institute for Free Market Economy (IFME) with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), today, November 19, publishes research on “Impact of COVID-19 on Foreign Direct Investment in Kosovo and the Western Balkans”. This paper aims to address the impact of COVID on economic indicators and FDI in the Western Balkan countries, possible scenarios of events and their reflections in Kosovo. This report is preceded by the publication of a paper by IFME entitled Foreign Direct Investment in Kosovo, investment climate, potential and barriers, which was published at the end of 2019, which provides valuable information about the barriers faced by investors in Kosovo (FDI) even before COVID — 19, the reforms that the government needs to make in the overall economic development and attraction of FDI. This research report is also preceded by the analysis of secondary data (documents, local and international reports of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK), IMF, World Bank (WB), Investment and Enterprise Support Agency in Kosovo (KIESA), scientific and professional articles, statistical data). In order to enrich the content of the report, to analyze the existing situation of FDI in the face of the pandemic in Kosovo, the IETL Institute has also conducted interviews with the leaders of KIESA and KIE.

The report aims to stimulate significant debates during the process of drafting a new strategy for medium-term economic recovery over a 5-year period which should have clear development objectives and concrete steps to stimulate foreign investment, which declined significantly even before the pandemic, especially during 2018 and 2017, leaving Kosovo as an unattractive place for foreign investment and far from attracting investment from corporations and major world brands.

The full report in Albanian and English you can find in this link.