Shala, who is currently in Turkey to attend the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), noted that Kosovo has been developing steadily since it first declared its independence. The trade volume between Turkey and Kosovo now stands at $130 million, Shala said, adding that their target is to increase this amount tenfold in the next few years. He pointed out that his country offers the cheapest labor and lowest tax rates in Europe, calling for Turkish entrepreneurs to invest in Kosovo. He cited the energy, transportation and telecom sectors as fields that offer great opportunities to investors. Discussing restrictions foreign investors face in numerous countries, Shala guaranteed Turkish investors that they would be granted all the rights that Kosovar investors have. “All foreign investors can establish their own firms and own property in Kosovo. Furthermore, if they wish to return the money they have earned in Kosovo to their own country they are free to do so without any obligation to pay tax,” he noted. A foreign investor in Kosovo is only obliged to pay the corporate tax, which is 10 percent. An institution has been established to help investors in Kosovo, Shala added.
Shala underlined that the Kosovar economy has not contracted during the ongoing global financial crisis. As a small economy, Kosovo is not yet fully integrated into the global economy, he explained. In 2008 the Kosovar economy grew by 5.4 percent, and this figure only declined to an estimated 4.5 percent this year due to the crisis.
