Brussels, 22/12/2005 (Agence Europe) -The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambers) held a conference in Brussels on 20 December on the subject "Member of the EU: a force acting for the economies of the western Balkans? The role of the Chambers of Commerce", and was attended by the Commissioner in charge of Enlargement, Olli Rehn. The conference closed the PARTNERS (Project of Assistance to Regional Trade and Networking for Economy Recovery and Stability) programme, which was launched in Skopje on 16 February 2004 by Eurochambers. Created within the framework of the EU CARDS programme (assistance for reconstruction, development and stabilisation), PARTNERS was set up to feed into the development of national and regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro). Its total budget is 2.15 million EUR (see EUROPE 8648 of 19 February 2004.
The conference highlighted the results obtained by PARTNERS since it was launched, which are: (1) 15 partnerships have been established between the European Chambers and the western Balkans. These partnerships have had the results of implementing projects, such as the agency for the promotion of investment and assistance to business in central Serbia, a new service for start-up companies aiming to promote local development in Karlovac (Croatia), the promotion of entrepreneurship among women in Nis (Serbia), etc.; (2) the staff of 670 Chambers in the Chambers of the Western Balkans were able to benefit from intensive training and take part in working groups, particularly on commercial promotion and preparation for accession to the EU; (3) to detailed studies were carried out (in 2004 and in 2005) on regional competitiveness, in which 2000 companies took part each year; (4) 35 scholarships for high-level training were granted to executives from the Western Balkans Chambers. 11 Member States of the EU (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands) and five countries from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro) took part in the PARTNERS programme.
Speaking at the opening of the conference on the status of the economies of the Western Balkans in their prospects of becoming members of the EU, Olli Rehn stressed that "the Western Balkans are a key responsibility for the EU. The state of the region is critical for the security and well-being of our citizens. 2006 will be an extreme the important year for the Balkans". The Commissioner went on to explain that "the Commission is working with the two forthcoming Presidencies of the EU, Austria and Finland, on the promotion of greater economic and political integration in the region, and to show the benefits of such integration to the citizens of this region". Eurochambers Secretary General Arnaldo Abruzzini added: "the prospect of becoming a member of the EU is an encouragement to growth for the economies of the Western Balkans. The PARTNERS programme has provided it with the instruments it needs and helps to increase the potential of trade flows and investment flows in this region, by making the best of the opportunities opened up by the network of the Chambers of Commerce. We are very much counting on the Commission to continue this extremely accessible initiative".