Speech of Mr. Nadir Mohammed, Country Manager of the World Bank at Central European Initiative (CEI) Summit

Your Excellency Mr. Prime Minister, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha

Excellencies, Prime Ministers, Heads of Governments, and Ministers from the CEI region,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is great honor and privilege for me to greet this august gathering of the 9^th CEI summit on behalf of the World Bank.

Like my colleagues from other IFIs who spoke before me, the World Bank also appreciated the progress achieved in the region and the dynamism particularly in areas of poverty reduction and accelerating reforms in the business environment. In our latest Doing Business Report, the region was the top performer in the World and about 90% of the counties in South Eastern Europe undertook at least one of the critical reforms to improve the business climate.

Regional cooperation in trade and trade facilitation is making good progress (e.g., CEFTA) and the World Bank is committed to provide further support in this area (e.g., TTFSE). The Energy Community Treaty is another example of successful regional programs and we hope to sustain our efforts in this area as well.

We discussed in the last two days various aspects on the theme of the Summit Economic Forum “Fostering Reforms and Innovation for sustainable growth”. We had interesting discussions on the importance of economic stability for economic growth and poverty reduction. We also discussed in particular the infrastructure sector and the prospects of accelerating reforms and financing in the energy, transport, water supply and sanitation and urban development. The World Bank will continue to increase its financing and advisory role in these sectors. With the limited fiscal space, the World Bank Group (including IFC and MIGA) will also work with the Governments in the region in strengthening the legal framework to ensure increased levels of FDI and public private partnerships.

Excellencies

With the very positive record in economic development and the good prospects of the region, we also understand that the current challenges on the political front would require highest levels of cooperation and understanding. In the Western Balkan region, accelerating reforms and increasing levels of regional cooperation and integration will ensure bringing the region closer to the EU. This is the aspiration of the people of the region, as reiterated by HE PM Berisha last night and today. We look forward to deepen our partnership with the people of the region for the realization of their development objectives.

Thank you.