Kosovo in the eyes of the foreign investors by AmCham Kosovo

Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Foreign companies not present in Kosovo ................................................................................................... 7 Foreign companies present in Kosovo .........................................................................................................11 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 15 Summary of Interviews with relevant stakeholders working for/providing assistance to investment‐ promoting bodies in Kosovo ....................................................................................................................... 17 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 18

American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo Str. Fehmi Agani, No. 36/3, 10000 Prishtina – Kosovo www.amchamksv.org / info@amchamksv.org Authors: Arian Zeka, Policy Manager Visar Hapçiu, Policy and Admin Assistant Hana Cakuli, Policy and Research Assistant

Introduction American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo is a leading business association, which represents and protects the interests of American, foreign and local companies in Kosovo. In addition to the regular services that it provides to its members, AmCham is very persistent in its advocacy and lobbying efforts, with a main objective of improving the overall business environment, that would ultimately increase country’s economic prospects and reduce the very high unemployment rate. In this context, the study Kosovo in the Eyes of Foreign Investors aims at learning what is the perception of foreign companies about Kosovo and its business environment in general, what do they consider to be the strongest potentials that Kosovo provides, and what are the items that need to be improved. The study is different from previous researches as it also targeted the American and European companies that are present in the region of Western Balkans (WB) and Southeastern Europe (SEE), but not in Kosovo. And finally the study includes conclusions from several interviews which were focused on the efforts of the relevant institutions to attract foreign investments. The project Kosovo in the Eyes of Foreign Investors is implemented by AmCham Policy and Research Department, whereas it was financially supported by Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS), to whom AmCham is very grateful.

Methodology This study comprises of two parts, with the aim of rendering both quantitative and qualitative data with regards to Foreign Direct Investments in Kosovo. The first part of the study includes a survey conducted with a total of 49 foreign companies which operate in the region of Southeastern Europe/Western Balkans present or not present in Kosovo. AmCham used a web‐based software application for the surveys. The aim of this section of the study is to collect quantitative data with regards to foreign companies’ perception and knowledge about Kosovo. The second part of the study is comprised of qualitative data from face‐to‐face interviews with relevant stakeholders working for/or providing assistance to the relevant investment‐promoting bodies in Kosovo. The project took roughly 5 months to complete (July‐November 2010).

Acknowledgements AmCham thanks the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS) for their financial support to this project. AmCham is also grateful to regional American Chambers, particularly to AmCham Croatia and AmCham Macedonia for their help in the completion of this project by distributing the surveys to their members. Most importantly, a special thanks to all the companies that took their time to complete our survey.

Foreiggn compan nies not present in Kosovo The firstt section of tthe report in ncludes the results of thee survey cond ducted with American an nd European n companies that are currently pre esent in the region of So outheastern EEurope and W Western Balkans but nott ovo. More tthan 50% of o respondeents come ffrom the seector of pro s and d in Koso ofessional services manufaccturing, whille the remaining portion n comes from m the following sectors: information technology,, pharmacceuticals, wh holesale goo ods and finaancial/insurance servicess. The respo ondents inclu ude some off the reno owned interrnational com mpanies; ho owever their company names shall not n be published in thiss report fo or confidentiality reasons. The chart below sho ows the investment portion of the su urveyed com mpanies in the region of SSEE/Western n Balkans.. SSlovenia

9,50% %

Serbia

19,00%

R Romania Montenegro

42,90% 4 14 4,30%

Macedonia H Hungary Croatia

5 57,10% 9,50% % 14 4,30%

Bulgaria Bossnia and … Albania

38,10 0% 14 4,30% 38,10 0%

The find dings of thee survey aree neither co oncerning no or satisfying. They are in line with the overall perceptiion that exists about Kosovo and the t overall efforts of th he respectivve institution ns to attractt foreign d direct investments in Kossovo. The mosst positive faact of this su urvey is thatt all of the surveyed com mpanies havve heard of K Kosovo, with h 60% of them namin ng TV news as the main n source, wh hich is obvious having in n mind the global g mediaa coverage that was ggiven to Koso ovo in the reecent years. Almost 50% of them weere personally in Kosovo,, 4% of them h heard of Koso ovo through business partners/friend ds. Finally, 16% of respondents claim m while 44 to have heard of Kosovo from TV V commerciaals, which im mplies that “Kosovo – Yo oung Europeaans” has had d mpact on the promotion o of Kosovo ass a new coun ntry. some im Contraryy to the satiisfying portio on of compaanies that haave heard of Kosovo, th he situation seems to bee less satissfying with rregards to the level of fam miliarity thatt the surveyeed companiees have of Ko osovo. In thiss regard, 6 60% of comp panies have a moderate or fair know wledge of thee business en nvironment, while abovee 30% of companies had no know wledge at all about the business en nvironment in Kosovo. Only O a small mpanies, thaat is 8% off them aree very much h familiar w with Kosovo o’s businesss percentaage of com environm ment.

Are you u familiar with Kosovo o busineess en nvironm ment? Very much 8 8%

Not at all % 30%

No response 2%

Mo oderateley / fairly 60%

The survey results also suggest that not much m work has been done d by the relevant in nstitutions in n oreign investtors the hum man and natural resources, geograph hical position, and otherr presentiing to the fo potentiaals that Kosovo providees. In this regard 30% of respondeents have aa very good knowledge,, followed d by another 30% of tho ose who havve moderatee knowledge and almostt 30% of com mpanies thatt have a ffair knowledge of these potentials. TThe remainin ng 10 percen nt have no ffamiliarity att all with the e Kosovo’s overall pottentials. ovo’s busineess environm ment by thee Anotherr interestingg finding of the survey is the rankking of Koso surveyed d companies. Namely, 76.5% 7 of those compan nies that had d previouslyy claimed to o have somee knowled dge of Kosovvo’s business environme ent rank it aas promising,, followed b by 17.6% of respondentss ranking it as not so p promising an nd just abovee 5% of respo ondents rankking it as bussiness‐friend dly.

Kosovvo busin ness envvironme ent rankking Business‐friendly 6% Not so promising 18%

Prromising 76%

mation aboutt The other positive result is thaat 70.6% of respondentss have alreaady tried to gain inform ness environment, implying that som me of them are considerin ng investing in Kosovo in n Kosovo and its busin his regard, 8 83.3% of the companies w who have sought informaation about Kosovo have e the nearr future. In th done it through their friends an nd 50% of them through online surfing, whereass only 25% o of them havee d to Kosovo o official sites ffor information on Kosovvo. referred All of respondents claimed not to haave ever been approaached by aany respecttive Kosovo o on/organizattion/agency.. institutio Information seems to be of a great g significcance for 52 2.9% of surveeyed compaanies who saaid that onlyy hey have mo ore informattion they willl decide whether they w will invest or not in Kosovo. Around d when th 17.6% o of responden nts said that they want tto invest in K Kosovo but iinitially theyy would like to see somee improveements in the business eenvironmentt. This is then followed b by 11.8 % off foreign com mpanies thatt have alrready decideed to investt in Kosovo in the nearr future. And d finally, theere are another 17% off companies who aree not considering investing in Kosovvo. In total, the rate of potential in nvestors thatt considerr investing in n Kosovo is around 80%.

Are yyou consideringg to inveest in Ko osovo No 18%

Need d to gain more in nformation befire w we decide to d do this 5 53%

YYes, in the neaar future 12% Yes, b but we need to ssee some impro ovements in thee business envvironment 17%

There arre two main reasons behind the relu uctance of the foreign ccompanies th hat are not iinterested in n investingg in Kosovo, and these in nclude the ccurrent globaal economic crisis and th he need for ggaining moree informattion.

M Major re easons of relucctance tto investt in Kosovvo Lack of info ormation abo out Kosovo

50%

Global econo omic crisis

50%

The reluctant investors name the improvement of legal environment and fighting of bureaucracy as the main changes that need to be undertaken before they consider investing in Kosovo. Still speaking about the reluctant investors, it should be emphasized that all of the surveyed companies would consider investing in Kosovo in case that the global economy/financial conditions improve. 1 2 3

Improvement of legal infrastructure Fighting of bureaucracy Tax incentives

With regards to gaining more information about Kosovo and its business environment, 88.9% of respondent companies, are interested in receiving informational and promotional materials, whereas 70% of these companies would like to have more information on the legal environment in Kosovo, followed by around 53% of the companies that are interested in having more information about the human resources in Kosovo. AmCham Kosovo in the Eyes of Foreign Investors The results of the survey also show a positive perception of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo among the foreign companies, given that 95.2% of them would like AmCham help them set up their business in Kosovo, in case they decide to do so, and some 85.7% of them who would like AmCham Kosovo help them find local business partners in Kosovo.

Foreiggn compan nies prese ent in Koso ovo The seco ond part of tthe survey fo ocuses on the foreign invvestors who have investeed in Kosovo o, in order to o find out their curren nt opinion an nd perceptio on of Kosovo o’s business eenvironmentt. The surveyy also aimed d ng out what are the currrent plans of o these invvestors – will they expan nd their inveestments, orr at findin eventuaally plan to leeave Kosovo in a near futture. The surrveyed comp panies main nly represen nt the profeessional servvices sector at 31.6%, followed byy informattion techn nology secctor at 15%, 1 retaiil goods at 15%, manufactu uring 15%,, bank/microfinance/lending secttor at 10.5% %, wholesale goods at 10 0.5%, financial/insurancee services att 10%. The remaining percentage of around 30 0% includes,, wine production, constrruction and m mining. owledge of Kosovo business environ nment that tthe surveyed d companiess With reggards to thee level of kno had befo ore decidingg to invest in Kosovo, onlly 26% of theem had veryy good knowledge beforee deciding to o invest in n Kosovo, while w around d 48% of theem had mod derate or faair knowledgge, and the rest had no o knowled dge at all.

W Were you u familiaar with Kosovo businesss en nvironm ment beffore ivesting in Kosovo o?

Not at all 26%

Fairlyy 27%

Very much 26%

Mod derataley 21%

Speakingg about the channels ussed by the foreign f investors to get information n about Koso ovo, friends,, media and a Kosovo official sitess are the most dominan nt channels with around 60%, follo owed by thee internett surfing at around 37%. 42% of the surveyeed companie es invested in i Kosovo in n the 1999‐2 2004 period, whereas 31.6% 3 of thee dents investeed within a three‐year t p period of 2005‐2007, and 21.1% of respondentss invested in n respond Kosovo from 2008‐2 2010. And finally f it should be noteed that the other o surveyyed compan nies invested d 1999. before 1

Perio od of invvestment in Ko osovo Other O

2008‐‐2010

2 21%

2005‐‐2007

31%

1999‐‐2004

42%

Speakingg about the initial expecctations priorr to investingg in Kosovo, 72% of resp pondents had d reasonablee expectattions, follow wed by 22% o of respondents who had d high expecctations and 6% of respo ondents who o had over optimistic eexpectationss.

Inittial expe ectation ns priorr to inve etsing in n Kossovo Over optimistic 6%

High 22%

Reasonable 72%

With regards to thee fulfillmentt of respond dents’ expecctations, 42.1% of respo ondents claim m that theirr expectattions were met moderaately, 31.1% % of respond dents claim their expecctations werre met well,, followed d by a 15.8% % of respond dents who claim that their expectattions were m met very well. There is aa

ons were no ot met very w well and anotther 10% wh ho claim thatt 10% of tthose who cllaim that theeir expectatio their exp pectation haave not been met at all. More th han 60% of respondentss consider human resou urces to be the t strongesst potential that Kosovo o providess to foreign iinvestors. Th he chart belo ow shows thee ranking of other stronggest potentiaals accordingg to the fo oreign investtors in Kosovvo.

The strrongets potentials of K Kosovo P Political situati ion

22,2%

Geogrraphical positiion

33,3%

Natural resourcces

44,4%

Human resourcces

61,,1%

Despite the fact that there is a sslight percen ntage of resp pondents wh ho claim thatt their expecctations have e been meet to a desiraable level, 52 2.6% of respo ondents still rank curren nt business environment in Kosovo ass promisin ng. This is th hen followed d by a 26.3% % of respondents who rank the busin ness environ nment as nott promisin ng and a 15.8 8% who seem m to see no ffriendliness in the curren nt business eenvironmentt in Kosovo.

Kossovo bussiness e environm ment raanking Business‐friendly 5..3% Unfriiendly 15.8%

Not so promising 26.3%

P Promising 52.6%

In relation with th he previous question, itt is necessaary to menttion here that more than 52% off dents are nott consideringg leaving Ko osovo and 15 5.8% of foreign investors who have not thoughtt respond about th his at all, wh hile the remaaining 31.6% % may leave Kosovo if no o significant progress is m made on thee ground.

Arre you co onsiderring leavving Kossovo? Deffinitely yes 0%

Yes, if no siignificant progress iis made on the gground 31,6 6% No 52,6% 5 Have not thought about that 15,8 8%

ng the progrress that neeeds to be maade on the ggrounds, the respondents have rankeed five itemss Regardin that urgently need to be improved by Kosovo’s relevant institutions as follows: 1 2 3 4 5

Rule of Law Legal Frramework Skilled labor Tax envvironment Transpo ortation infraastructure

ors in Kosovo o aimed at finding out w what are theyy And the final question addresseed to the foreign investo h their investtments in Ko osovo. The rresponds pro ovided in this question also showed d planningg to do with positive findings as 47.1% of resspondents saaid they are planning to o expand theeir business, while 23.5% % ue operating without anyy change. Fin nally, a remaaining 30% saaid that theyy of them are planning to continu nning to cut ssome of the operations. are plan

Wh hat are you plaanning to do wiith yourr in nvestme ents in K Kosovo Cut som me of the oep prations Contin nue operatingg without any change Expand b business

29.4% % 23.5% 47.1%

Conclusions The survey conducted with foreign investors present in Balkans and SE Europe showed that they have heard of Kosovo, and that Kosovo – Young European media campaign might have had a positive impact on this regard. However the situation is different with regards to the knowledge that these investors have of Kosovo’s business environment. Potential investors also seem to have not much knowledge about the main potentials that Republic of Kosovo offers to foreign investors. Another finding of the survey is that none of respondents had been approached by any Kosovo state institution/agency/organization. More than half of respondents confirm their readiness to invest in Kosovo after they had received some informational/promotional materials about Kosovo and its business environment. An encouraging portion of these foreign companies, around 12% have already decided to invest in Kosovo. Speaking about those who are currently not thinking at all of investing in Kosovo, two are the main reasons behind this reluctance. The first one is lack of information about Kosovo and the current global economic crisis. Several other respondents say that they want to see improvement of legal infrastructure, fighting of bureaucracy and tax incentives before they decide to invest in Kosovo. The survey conducted with foreign investors who have already invested in Kosovo rendered almost the same conclusions as the previous survey. The companies lacked the necessary information about Kosovo’s business environment before investing in Kosovo. The companies used informal channels to get these information. Most of the companies that have invested in Kosovo had moderate expectations from their investments and are up to an average extent satisfied with the fulfillment of their expectations. The survey also revealed a slight portion of foreign companies that see Kosovo’s business environment as unfriendly, whereas half of them seem to have a bit more optimistic view. An important conclusion is that 30% of foreign companies may leave if no significant progress is made by the institutions. In this regard, they name: rule of law, legal framework, skilled labor, tax environment and finally transportation infrastructure as the five key items that urgently need to be addressed and improved.

Recommendations Considering that foreign investors lack information about Kosovo’s business environment, then AmCham recommends the relevant institutions to replace the Young Europeans advertisement with another advertisement that would focus on Kosovo’s potentials for investment. Kosovo’s state bodies, particularly the Economic Sections/Staff of the Embassies of Republic of Kosovo should identify, target and contact the American and European companies that are present within the countries in which they represent Kosovo, and thus present them with investment advantages and potentials in Kosovo, or send them informational or promotional packages.

Finally, Kosovo institutions should make more efforts in improving the items that were identified by the foreign investors, i.e. legal infrastructure, fighting of bureaucracy and tax incentives. The above recommendations should apply for the conclusions rendered from the survey with the foreign companies that have already invested in Kosovo. Institutions should work hard to convince these investors that their investments will be safe and that Kosovo will become a better place for investments.

Summary of Interviews with relevant stakeholders working for/providing assistance to investment‐promoting bodies in Kosovo The Study Kosovo in the Eyes of Foreign Investors also includes qualitative data rendered from interviews with relevant experts/officials working for/providing assistance to the bodies dealing with promotion of investments in Kosovo. For confidentiality reasons the names of the interviewed experts/officials and organizations they work for shall not be published. Below, are presented the summarized findings of the interviews with the above‐mentioned experts. Namely, the experts believe that Kosovo institutions have initiated several reforms in improving the overall environment, such as the business registration procedures. But despite these efforts, the interviewed experts believe that Kosovo institutions, particularly the Investment Promotion Agency of Kosovo can do more to promote Kosovo as a business‐friendly environment for foreign investors. However they also say that there is lack of real ‘One Stop Shops’, regardless of the fact that Investment Promotion Agency of Kosovo is established to serve as one. In this context, they say that investment promotional materials should be more focused on details for specific industries rather than on general and technical information, that do not give the investors the answers they want to have. For example, instead of having the general number of graduates per year, the investors would want to have the number of graduates in each field. On the other hand, the officials from the Investment Promotion Agency of Kosovo, also interviewed by the project implementation team, say that given the lack of funds that are available to this body, they are satisfied with their performance. In their words, other similar bodies in the region have a much higher budget. They say that in many cases they have been approached by foreign investors and that they have been able to assist them in many aspects, such as business registration process and permit application and other administrative processes. IPAK officials say that thanks to the support of key donors, they have been able to organize and support networking events and trade enhancement missions abroad. All in all, IPAK says that it has done the best in fulfilling its objectives. Experts call on Kosovo’s institutions to analyze more the practices used by other countries, particularly the neighboring ones, in attracting the foreign investments, as there is much that can be gained from these countries that have been more successful in their efforts. They name Bulgaria as a good example of a country which provides more detailed information to foreign investors. Experts also say that the new Law on Companies is expected to make significant improvements. Another ‘must do’ item, according to the experts, is the adoption of a Law that would provide legal protection to all the foreign investors in Kosovo. What creates delay in the complete business registration process is the need for having several different numbers, such as the business registration number, fiscal number and VAT number. The experts suggest that there should be only one unique number for the businesses. It is interesting to mention that despite the fact that the experts voice concern over the Kosovo’s ranking in World Bank Doing Business Report, some of them claim that the ranking may be a bit negative compared to the real situation on the ground.

Also, these experts say that in addition to advertisements that show Kosovo youth being as modern as any European nation, Kosovo institutions should specify in details the comparative advantages that Kosovo has to offer, such as youth talents, natural resources, etc. They say that Kosovo can serve as a right destination for the outsourcing of some business activities of the foreign companies, adding that so far there are many good examples in this context. In the view of interviewed experts, the political situation and particularly Kosovo’s current position in Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) might be a serious reason behind investors’ reluctance to invest in Kosovo. In this regard, Kosovo, with the help of international stakeholders, should work more in improving relations with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, two countries in the Balkan peninsula that do not recognize Kosovo custom stamps and other official documents. Finally, when speaking about the human resources in general, experts believe that what Kosovo lacks a skilled labor and therefore further professional development and/or specialization of this labor is needed.

Recommendations Based on the conclusions rendered from the interviews with the experts working for/providing assistance to investment promotion bodies in Kosovo, AmCham recommends the respective Kosovo institutions to make the best use of their capacities for promoting Kosovo’s investment potentials. The so‐called One Stop Shops, such as the Investment Promotion Agency of Kosovo, should really make the hardest efforts in offering the foreign investors solutions and answers to all their inquiries. But in order to achieve this, Government and/or donors should maintain and increase their financial support to IPAK. The promotional and informational materials should provide specific information instead of the more general ones. In this regard, the analyzing of regional countries practices would be of great help. There should be a further simplification in the business registration procedures, such as having a unique identification business number, instead of several ones. This would ultimately have a positive impact in Kosovo’s overall ranking in the World Bank Doing Business Report as well. Finally, it is necessary for Kosovo to eliminate the political obstacles that might discourage foreign investors, such as the case of Central European Free Trade Agreement.