The impact of the CEFTA trade agreement on economic development in Kosovo

Given the fact that Kosovo was in a difficult economic situation, it became a member of CEFTA, so that domestic producers could export their goods, benefit from free trade, attract foreign investors, and also it was seen as an opportunity for integration into the European Union (EU). After the signi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: MA. Leonora Vranja
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Felix-Verlag 2017-06-01
Series:ILIRIA International Review
Online Access:http://iliriapublications.org/index.php/iir/article/view/303
Description
Summary:Given the fact that Kosovo was in a difficult economic situation, it became a member of CEFTA, so that domestic producers could export their goods, benefit from free trade, attract foreign investors, and also it was seen as an opportunity for integration into the European Union (EU). After the signing of this agreement, eventhough expectations were optimistic about economic development, the agreement was not fully implemented. Kosovo, compared to other SouthEast European countries that are also members of this agreement, has been discriminated against in terms of export of domestic products and the number of foreign investors has decreased. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of this agreement on Kosovo's economic development. For analyzing the macroeconomic indicators affected by this agreement, analytical methods were used, and interviews were conducted with a local producer as well as with an economic expert. The results of this research show that the CEFTA 2006 agreement did not have the expected positive impact on the development of the economy in Kosovo.
ISSN:2192-7081
2365-8592