Kosovo envoy hails Turkish firms’ role in reconstruction of country

KAYSERİ – Anadolu Agency

Kosovo Consul General to Turkey Avni Spahiu. DHA Photo

Over 300 Turkish companies are currently active in Kosovo and are playing an important role in the reconstruction of the recovering country, the Kosovan envoy to Turkey has said, calling for more firms from Turkey to invest in Kosovo.

“Turkey is supporting us to reconstruct the state of Kosovo and recover the damaged economy,” Consulate General of Kosovo in Turkey Avni Spahiu said on Oct. 21, speaking during a visit to the governor of the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, Orhan Düzgün.

Calling Turkey a “strategic partner of Kosovo,” Spahiu said large Turkish companies, the number of which has surpassed 300, “are working to establish Kosovo’s infrastructure, particularly operating in the banking and health sectors.”

He also boasted that his country holds “rich” mining resources and has “healthy” agricultural and food production, which could offer more investment opportunities when considered alongside the country's young population.

For his part, Düzgün said “everybody hopes to see the sentimental unity between the two countries translated into cooperation in the fields of trade, education and tourism.”

Turkey was one of the first countries to officially recognize Kosovo as an independent country in 2008; the state later became a member of the World Bank and the IMF in 2009. Today, it is recognized by over 90 countries, but is not a member of the United Nations.