Starović: Economic integration is the future of the Western Balkans

"The initiative is inclusive, it is open to all our partners, and from the start an invitation was sent to B&H, Montenegro, as well as representatives of the administration in Pristina, but to date there was no positive response", said Nemanja Starović as a guest on RTV Pink.

The State Secretary said that the new name of this initiative would be promoted in Skopje today, pointing out that this is a large autochthonous initiative, based on basic European values, but also that it has significant US support.

Starović mentioned that if a space for the free flow of people, goods and capital is created, three billion euros of new value can be expected. He also referred to the assistance that the region receives from the European Union and other partners, saying that it is not negligible, but that we could create much more through joint efforts in the region.

He also pointed out the importance of today's signing of the Agreement on mutual recognition of work permits.

Starović presented the research data of the Vienna Institute for Economic Studies showing that there are more people with university degrees who come to Serbia today than those who leave, but also pointed out the problem of outflow of people with high school diplomas of certain profiles, and concluded that for these reasons it is very important create a single labor market.