Minister of Economy and Innovation, Delina Ibrahimaj, said the meeting marked “another important step” in strengthening cooperation among Western Balkan countries and aligning the region with European Union standards.

Participants highlighted infrastructure, transport, and energy as strategic sectors for attracting investment and improving the region’s economic competitiveness.

A dedicated segment of the meeting focused on climate action and the measures aimed at ensuring a just and sustainable green transition across the region.

Women’s economic empowerment was also emphasized – not just as a social imperative but as a driver of inclusive and sustainable development.

The Berlin Process is a European intergovernmental initiative launched in 2014 by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, aimed at fostering closer political, economic, and infrastructural ties between the Western Balkans and the EU.

The initiative brings together six Western Balkan countries – Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina – alongside several EU member states and key European institutions.

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The Ministry of Finance and Economy said Monday that the forum will bring together the economy ministers of the Western Balkan six countries and their peers in the Berlin Process host countries and European Union representatives and it focus on ways to take regional cooperation forward, promote the region’s economic growth to take it closer to the EU.

The forum will take stock of achievements, main priorities and challenges in implementing this plan and progress of the regional integration agenda through support in the framework of the Berlin Process as a crucial mechanism to speed up the region’s economic convergence with the European Union.

The meeting will also discuss ways to facilitate trade, reduce barriers, integrate markets, boost regional cooperation, and integrate region’s payment systems and to prepare Western Balkan economically for eventual integration into the Eurozone.

The Berlin Process is a high-ranking political initiative aimed at stepping up regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and aiding the integration of these countries into the European Union. It was launched on August 28, 2014, by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Berlin Process is supported by the European Commission, the international financial institutions and the countries involved in this initiative, including Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Slovenia, and the European Union.

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