Kosovo has the highest unemployment rate in the Western Balkans, the World Bank and Vienna Institute for Internal Economic Studies said in a report published on Tuesday.
The report said that the overall unemployment rate in the region dropped from 16.2 to 15.3 percent. The unemployment rates range from 12 percent in Albania and Serbia to 29 percent in Kosovo.
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development Nenad Rikalo met with the Director of the World Bank Office in Kosovo, Marco Mantovanelli, with whom he discussed the current processes in the development of agriculture, as well as the goals of the ministry in order to further strengthen this sector.
As announced by the Ministry, Rikalo thanked the World Bank for its support to the agricultural sector that given concrete and significant results.
The air quality in Kosovo is far away from European standards and exceeding the allowed rates. Among the biggest polluters in Kosovo are considered the power plants of the Kosovo Energy Corporation, but also the old cars and coal used for heating during the winter, Koha Ditore reports. The risk from the polluted air had alerted the World Bank, who, through a survey conducted earlier in the year, said that within one year there are 800 premature deaths in Kosovo due to air pollution.
Kosovo delegation headed by Minister of Finance Avdullah Hoti, is participating in the regular annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington. Except for the participation at the plenary session of the IMF and the World Bank, Kosovo delegation will also meet with senior officials of these two institutions, as well as with officials of the US Department of Treasure and representatives of the US Department of State.
World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller completed his first visit to Kosovo today, which focused on learning first-hand about Kosovo’s growth opportunities and development challenges. He participated in the discussions related to the Systematic Country Diagnostic for Kosovo, and the recently adopted National Development Strategy for the 2016-2021 period.
Kosovo Minister of Finance, Avdullah Hoti, today signed an agreement with the director of the World Bank Office in Kosovo, Jan Peter Olsen, on a loan of 11 million euros to improve conditions in the education sector. Kosovo Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Arsim Bajrami, said that this loan will help in raising quality and strengthening the capacity of higher education in Kosovo. Education is one of the important areas on which the World Bank has invested.