Kosovo’s Minister of Health, Imet Rrahmani, and World Bank Kosovo Country Manager Jan-Peter Olters officially launched yesterday the Kosovo Health Project funded through a World Bank loan and aimed at financial protection and quality improvement of healthcare services in Kosovo. Olters said on the occasion that the project’s goal is to strengthen relevant institutions and the Ministry of Health is implementing important reforms to address the identified shortcomings in the healthcare sector.

Kosovo’s Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Arban Abrashi, took part in a Vienna conference titled “Investing in skills” organised by the World Bank and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo. As a panelist, Abrashi spoke in the conference about the Kosovo government’s strategy to decrease unemployment and fight poverty. Abrashi said participation in the conference is part of preparations for a World Bank employment project through which Kosovo will benefit from investment in the most important sectors.

The World Bank Director for Eastern Europe, Ellen Goldstein, in an interview for VoA talked about some of the challenges facing Kosovo, as high unemployment among young people, attracting foreign investors and the process of privatizations. "Creating jobs has been our top priority in Kosovo. The World Bank has supported Kosovo with a two-part strategy.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, participated on Tuesday in a joint conference on socio-economic development of Kosovo, organized by the government of Kosovo, the European Union Office in Kosovo and the World Bank. At this meeting, Prime Minister Mustafa has expressed the need for a greater assistance in Kosovo from the European Union and other European institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, the German Development Bank.