UNMIK/PR/1005
Monday, 7 July 2003

Free Trade Agreement Between Kosovo and Albania Signed

PRISTINA - SRSG Michael Steiner and the Albanian Minister for Economy Arben Malaj today signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Kosovo and Albania. The agreement was initialled by Minister for Trade and Industry Ali Jakupi.

It’s the first Free Trade Agreement that has been signed for Kosovo.

“I am very pleased to be able to sign this first Free Trade Agreement on behalf of Kosovo and the PISG on my last official working day,” the SRSG said. The ceremony took place in the presence of Kosovo’s Minister for Trade and Industry Ali Jakupi.

The agreement seeks to link Kosovo into the network of FTAs in South Eastern Europe that has been developed under the Stability Pact Working Group on Trade. Under this framework another FTA between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina is likely to come up in the near future.

The FTA foresees immediate liberalization of 50 per cent of traded goods between Kosovo and Albania. In the next six years 90 per cent of trade will be liberalized step by step. Only few industrial goods and some agricultural goods will remain protected.

The FTA will foster economic integration of Kosovo into the region and increase opportunities for businesspeople on all sides. It works both ways - cheaper products imported from Albania benefit customers in Kosovo and cheaper exports to Albania benefit the Kosovo customers. Mr. Malaj welcomed the agreement by saying that “this will benefit the economic development in the entire region”.

UNMIK’s EU Pillar led the negotiations for the agreement. The PISG team, led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry Ali Jakupi, was part of this negotiating team. Others in the delegation were representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and Economy, UNMIK Customs and the Chamber of Commerce. The PISG took an active and constructive role in negotiating the details of the FTA.

The agreement falls within UNMIK’s authority under UNSC resolution 1244. The EU Commission in Brussels and the UN Headquarters in New York have been consulted in the process.