TIRANA, December 21/ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama reiterated today the call to all the countries in the region to become part of the “Open Balkan”, as it is a fully all-embracing initiative.
In his remarks delivered at the opening of the plenary session of the “Open Balkan” summit, which is taking place in Tirana, PM Rama said that today is a key moment in the process because the agreements to be signed will determine a very important step towards our objective to guarantee the full freedom of movement of people, goods, capital and services”.
“Let me go through each pillar of the ‘Open Balkans’, reiterating the call for everyone to join as it is a fully all-embracing initiative and certainly encouraging others in the region to be part of this effort. But, in the meantime, we are going ahead because this is what we have to do for our people,” PM Rama said.
The prime minister stressed that today there will be signed a trilateral agreement in the field of facilitating the movement of goods. “The agreement aims to facilitate import-exports, as well as the implementation of the memorandum of understanding that has already been signed,” Rama said.
Also, the prime minister said that, “Today, we sign the cooperation agreement in the field of veterinary, food, food safety and phytosanitary certification in the Western Balkans”.
“The agreement represents a milestone in terms of exports, food safety and creates opportunities for our businesses and agricultural producers. It removes in practice a harmful obstacle for the producers’ farmers”, said PM Rama.
PM Rama emphasized that, “The Open Balkan” is an aspiration and an example of cooperation; it is a step forward, which opens the Balkans and prepares it for EU integration and the EU common market. ”
In the field of freedom of movement of people, the prime minister stressed that, “We are making real progress today by signing the trilateral agreement on the abolition of work permits, minimizing and unifying our requirements for citizens to seek employment and therefore be allowed to stay in our countries”.
The prime minister stressed that, “By doing so, we are talking about really concrete things and we are taking really significant steps forward to liberalize our labor markets, for more opportunities for our citizens, and making the region more attractive for foreign investment. ”.
We, said Rama, must open the region to the mobility of all students, professionals, investors and the self-employed “.
PN Rama stressed in his speech that the “Open Balkan” serves to inject dynamism into regional cooperation, while the rapid implementation of the 4 single market freedoms serves the preparation of our countries to join the common EU market.
For PM Rama, the signing of the agreements today serves to convey a very concrete message to the people, especially to producers, farmers, exporters, importers, who are already working in this common space./a. gjonaj/p.s./
