DOING BUSINESS IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE

Report from the Financial Times

www.ft.com/reports/south-east-europe-2010

Doing Business in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South East ...

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Albania Experiences FDI Growth in 2010

Ledion Veshi - 28.03.2011

Foreign direct investment in Albania totaled 837 million Euros in 2010. That is an increase of 23 percent from the previous year and also the highest value on record. The value of remittances was 690 million Euro, down 11.9 percent from 2009. The balance of payments was positive in 2010 at 179 million Euros, TV Scan reports.

 Albanian National Food Authority Destroys 20,000 Quintals of Expired Food

Ledion Veshi - 28.03.2011

The Albanian National Food Authority has destroyed 20,000 quintals of products not meeting food safety standards and fined 20 subjects operating in the Albanian market, Scan TV reported Friday. During the last seven months, over 8,000 controls have been carried out throughout the country.

Spain supports Serbia’s European integration

 - 29.03.2011

Djelic said at a joint press conference with Lopez Garrido that for Serbia it is important to obtain both the EU candidate status and the date for the beginning of accession negotiations at the December summit.

Serbia will be able to count on Spain’s vote if it carries out the necessary reforms this year, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

He also thanked Spain for maintaining a neutral position in all issues related to Kosovo-Metohija.

Spanish companies should be more present in Serbia, Djelic said, recalling that Spanish company CAF won a €90 million tender for supply of trams last year, and that two months ago the agreement was signed with a Spanish company for construction of the Zezelj Bridge in Novi Sad.

Lopez Garrido said that Madrid supports European integration of Serbia and confirmed that Serbia can count on every support from Spain, especially when it comes to the reforms necessary for EU membership.

He welcomed the fact that the majority of Serbian population support the European integration because they are is aware that this will enable democratisation, a higher standard of living and the creation of a new democratic state.

Speaking about whether Serbia can get the EU candidate status in December if the war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is not extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Lopez Garrido said that Serbia is expected to provide full cooperation with the tribunal, but that nobody has set this as a direct condition.

He noted that it is very important that Serbia has carried out reforms in the fields of judiciary, political development, economy and human rights.

Source Serbian Government.  

Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said yesterday after the talks with Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diego Lopez Garrido that Serbia is happy that it can count on Spain’s vote in December when the EU summit will be deciding on Serbia’s candidacy for membership.

Ford Romania has invested €350m in Craiova so far

 - 28.03.2011

Ford has committed itself to earmark €675m for the project.

"Ford Romania investments will continue after attaining the €675m level too,"Mediafax reported sources close to auto manufacturer as saying.

Assembly lines for the B-Max model and for the new engines that the American auto manufacturer will produce in Romania have been installed within the Craiova plant.

Each assembly line has a production capacity of 300,000 units per year. Ford presented the B-Max concept within the Auto Show in Geneva on March 1, a model that will start to be mass produced in Craiova early next year. The first test models will be seen on the roads starting this summer.

Ford Romania has invested €350m in Craiova so far, reports Mediafax.

Bank of Albania Twins with National Banks of Italy, France

 - 28.03.2011

A twinning project has been recently launched between the Bank of Albania, and the national banks of Italy and France meant to improve the working practices of the Bank of Albania in line with the practices of the European System of Central Banks. The project will bring EU expertise and know-how to Albania’s banking system and will train experts of the Bank of Albania to assist the country’s economic integration with the Union. The €1 million project will continue until May 2012 and it will be implemented jointly by the Italian and French national banks.

Montenegro's foreign trade was the largest with the CEFTA Agreement

 - 28.03.2011

Exported goods worth 69.2 euro million, which represents an increase of 114.9% over the same month last year, and imports of 202.9 euro million, which is higher by 12.2% over the same period last year.
Export-import ratio was 34.1% and was higher compared to the coverage in the same period last year, when it was 17.8%.
The structure of exports according to the classification SITC (Standard International Trade Classification), the most represented Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material sector-6, amounting to 34.2 euro million (consisting of, Non-ferrous metals amounted to 31.2 euro million and Iron and Steel in the amount of 1.9 million)
Montenegro's structure of imports according to the classification SITC (Standard International Trade Classification), the most represented products sector 0 - Food and live animals in the amount of 42.7 euro million (which amount, meat and meat processing facilities in the amount of 10.6 euro million and cereals and cereal preparations in the amount of 7.1 million euros)
In exports, Montenegro's main trade partners, individually, the ridge are Italy (15.6 million €), Serbia (14.7 million €), Hungary (8.6 million €)
In imports, Montenegro's main trade partners, individually, were Serbia (55.5 million €), Bosnia and Herzegovina (16.7 million €) and Greece (15.3 million €). Foreign trade was the largest with the CEFTA agreement and the European Union. Source: Statistical Office

The total foreign trade exchange of Montenegro for the period January-February 2011. vol. According to preliminary data amounted to 272 euro million indicating a growth of 27.7% compared to same period last year.