Prishtinë, December 18, 2018 – Corruption remains the mainbarrier to the development of business activities of enterprises in Kosovo butalso in everyday life of citizens. This was said today during the roundtableorganized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo on the importance offighting corruption in the country.
Arian Zeka, AmCham Executive Director, said that corruptionshould be fought in order to achieve a genuine economy development and tocreate a positive image of Kosovo. He mentioned that during a study conductedby AmCham on the perception of corruption, 75% of businesses see corruption assystematic, adding that the main factors of the increasing levels of corruptionare the weak rule of law and lack of proper court function.
Brian Martalus, Economic Growth Office Director, USAID, said that regulations and laws should be implemented in order to fight corruption. He further added that Kosovo has a big potential to fight this phenomenon, saying that should be done more in this regard.
Hasan Preteni, Center for Ethics, Transparency and Integrity, said that Kosovo has marked slow progress in fighting corruption. He added that despite the laws and regulations that the country has approved in regards to fighting corruption, we still face difficulties to implement them. Whereas, Blerim Kelmendi from Anti-Corruption Agency, said that the situation in Kosovo regarding corruption needs improvement. He added that besides receiving reports on corruption either from citizens or businesses in Kosovo, this institution has also worked on identifying and fighting corruption among the Kosovar society, adding that fighting corruption is of primary importance as well as the commitment of relevant institutions in this aspect.