The meeting will also host Ministerial panels:

• Creating a Single Regional Market: Deepening Regional Cooperation on Investment-Related Issues

The small size of the region’s economies, their specificities and idiosyncrasies, the narrow supplier base and insufficient level of basic skills all constitute real barriers to the development of foreign direct investment in South East Europe.  Moreover, in spite of CEFTA achievements such as the abolishment of tariffs, the region cannot yet call itself a unified market.  Leveraging the assets of the region in a cooperative way would boost investment; creating value chains across the region would enable optimisation of production in the context of global competition.  This session will explore ways in which the region  can focus and coordinate reform efforts to leverage its comparative and competitive advantages.

• Laying the Foundations of a Knowledge Economy

Competing on low labour costs is not a sustainable avenue for competitiveness.  Only a move up the value chain will enable the region to compete in a sustainable way and create more, and better, higher-paying jobs.  This session will focus on how governments can effectively enhance investment in human capital development and retention, and implement policies which favour the creation and absorption of knowledge in SEE economies. 

Contact

For more information, please visit the Investment Compact website or contact Mr. Alan Paic (alan.paic@oecd.org) Principal Administrator, Investment Compact for South East Europe.

Source: Investment Compact for South East Europe

Date:
From: 23 November 2011
To: 24 November 2011