Violeta Jovanović, Executive Director at NALED
Thank you for being here and for helping ensure that this event was not only successful but, in this socio-political context, exceeded all expectations. I believe the event was truly a success. In addition, it confirmed the concept we’ve been developing in the region for a decade – the concept of public-private dialogue and mutual cooperation. This concept demonstrates that we have no prejudices, that we are always ready to talk, to discuss smart solutions for our region. At this conference, we heard dozens of such solutions. Some of them we’ve already implemented, and what particularly encourages me is that we understood that the problems we face are not unique to us or to our economies; they are shared by others. What’s even better is that we were able to see that someone already has a solution to these problems, which we can adopt and implement together more easily.
That’s why we count on your continued support, to move our entire region forward and closer to the EU perspective through the implementation of these solutions. What is even more important is that we bring European reality and quality of life to all our citizens. We believe that what we have achieved so far together deserves further support, and we invite all of you to meet again in a year’s time, and for you to be the ones carrying some of those solutions. I think we’ve already partly fulfilled our task, as the region is working together again, and I congratulate us all on that. Thank you.
Zorica Bilić, National Coordinator, GIZ Open Regional Fund for Modernization of Municipal Services (GIZ ORF MMS)
We started this conference with the topic of digital transformation and ended with the topic of green transformation. This comes as no surprise, as these are the two major challenges we face, and in both, we see not only challenges but also good solutions that we can replicate. The key takeaways from this conference, in my opinion, are human capital and investment in human capital, as well as cooperation. Over these two and a half days, we have worked on both. We’ve strengthened human capital and our capacities, and we are also creating the conditions for cooperation. More than 200 people attended the conference, and we had over 40 panelists across nine topics. We really covered a broad range of topics and identified a large number of solutions.
As for German Development Cooperation, we remain committed in the upcoming period to support the truly human capital we see in the Regional Network for Favorable Business Environment in Southeast Europe – all of you – so that together, through cooperation, we can strengthen our capacities, enhance human capital in this region, and guide it, through both digital and green transformation, toward becoming a competitive region. Thank you, and I wish you much success in this endeavor.