Obstacles to investing in the Western Balkans:

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http//www.eurochambres.eu
Obstacles to investing in the Western
Balkans The view of the private sector
ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND
INDUSTRY
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Partners for Investment Promotion

• 18 months (May 2008 November 2009)
• CARDS Regional Support
• Beneficiary countries Albania, Bosnia and
  Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of
  Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia
• Objective to contribute to the development of a
  favourable environment for FDI in the region
• Main activities
• ? 8 cluster partnerships
• ? Survey
• ? Focused training through ECH Academies

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Survey methodology

• Qualitative!
• Interview-based
• Detailed questionnaires
• - WB OECD questionnaire
• - EU adapted
• Responses 860 WB 259 EU

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Overview Climate
Increasingly good ?EU ?WB
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Overview - FDI Obstacles
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1 Corruption

• EU? majority considers it most important
  obstacle
• WB? Investor-State Dispute Settlement System

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2 Legal/regulatory uncertainty

• EU? majority considers it 2nd most important
  obstacle, i.e.
• Lack of protection
• Lack of transparency
• WB? unpredicted regulatory changes lack of
  info

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Regional view - WB investors

• Human capital

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Regional view - WB investors II

• Access to finance tax incentives

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Intl view - EU investors

• Lack of information
• electricity/physical infrastructure
• access to land/property building costs
• labour regulations

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Conclusion

• Need for more political will share of EU best
  practices
• Need for full alignment with acquis / EU
  standards
• Need for WB private sector to be consulted in
  the economic reform education reform process
• Need for EU private sector to be informed about
  FDI opportunities in WB

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Thank you! Micol Martinelli Senior Advisor
International Affairs ? martinelli_at_eurochambres.eu