Milot Burani

Abstract

The Kosovar diaspora presents a large opportunity for the nation to utilize towards the aim of development. Through the years, the massive amount of resources sent to Kosovo from the diaspora, in the form of remittances, has been realized but has not been effectively utilized and channeled for development projects. The growing reliance on these remittances does not represent a sustainable approach for the country’s development as these inflows and could in fact prove to lead to the exact opposite. In order to make better use of Diaspora funds and increase foreign direct investments in the country, the Kosovar government has established investment schemes, such as economic zones, and created the Ministry of Diaspora. The purpose of this Honors Project is to analyze the potential that such economic zones have to attract diaspora investment, and whether this investment scheme is appropriate for Kosovo to continue to implement and pursue.

The study uses surveys and interviews to collect both qualitative and quantitative data on this matter, and the results suggest both pros and cons to implementing economic zones. Diaspora businesses that currently function in the economic zones seem to be largely successful, and those outside of the economic zones long to have the opportunity to function with such incentives. However, the concerns that diaspora businesses have with investing in Kosovo do not seem to be in line with what is offered by the economic zones, and the rigidity of the location of such zones may pose an issue for the diaspora.

Overall, the conclusions of the study were then used to compile a number of recommendations as to how such zones should be managed and how involved the Kosovar government should be in implementing such economic zones.

Publication Date

2016

Document Type

Senior Project

Student Type

Undergraduate

Advisor

Venera Demukaj

Campus

RIT Kosovo

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