Excellences, Prime Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and special thanks to the joint chairs, Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, for their work.
The EIB Group has been part of the Berlin Process since its establishment and we are very pleased to reaffirm our commitment to the Western Balkans to support the post-pandemic recovery and the European perspective of the entire region.
In the past ten years, the EU bank has invested more than €8 billion in the Western Balkans.
We warmly welcome the Economic and Investment Plan outlined by Commissioner Varhelyi to facilitate investment in the region.
Moreover, the Regional Common Market initiative announced today is an important step to supporting the investment climate needed.
Looking ahead, it is clear that governments’ efforts will need to be complemented by private sector investment. The EIB will aim to crowd-in private sector investment under the Western Balkan Investment Framework and the Western Balkan Guarantee Facility.
And building on previous work on Youth Employment Guarantees, we will target employment and entrepreneurship.
In short: we stand ready to accompany the Western Balkans in its efforts to emerge stronger, greener and more digitalised in a post-COVID world.
Thank you!