It is hard to understand that we live in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Although it’s hard to understand, it’s true. Region needs all available impacts to deal with the revolution and use it in the best possible way. The goal of the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed today by the Regional Cooperation Council with the World Economic Forum is to help region accomplish that through speeding up reforms in the domain of competitiveness and innovation, said secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council, Ms Majlinda Bregu after the memorandum was signed on the margins of the leaders meeting held in Geneva today.
“Bilateral questions spill over into regional cooperation. Besides, we are now faced with the EU’s negative decision regarding membership. Regional integration goes in step with European integration. Challenges that lie ahead of us will become even more serious. And while WB is waiting for the enlargement picture to become clearer, we must strengthen cooperation between six countries in the region. We must be aware of what is going on with the processes in the region”, said Ms Bregu.
According to her, faster economic growth of the Western Balkans lies in the creation of a unique market or regional economic area.
“If cross-border coordination reaches European average, WB will save €800 million on annual level, which is 1% of region’s GDP. Functional regional economic area helps economies be more competitive and innovation spread faster. Establishment of partnership with the World Economic Forum is an important step towards stimulation of regional economic area”, added Ms Bregu.
The meeting brought together leaders from the region and high officials of international community.
