The United States endorse the Open Balkan said the deputy assistant secretary of state for Central and Southern Europe, Gabriel Escobar in a video message during the Wednesday summit.

Escobar said this is and must remain an economic project, not a political one.

“I really encourage that this initiative remains economic, it is not a political project. It is an important economic project and to the extent that it remains economic and focused on creating opportunities for the people of the region, you will have more support”

Among other things he made several recommendations to the leaders of the Open Balkan initiative.

“I encourage applying for institutional development. That is the advantages of the Western Balkans is its strong economic growth”, Escobar said.

“But it has other economic advantages and it could have some competitive advantages by creating greater predictability for investors, greater support for e-government, for registration. And most importantly creating the opportunities and the institutional development for those institutions that are going to reduce smuggling and tax evasion because it is that informal economy that creates an uncompetitive playing field for those investors who want to operate legally.”

More to follow…