Violeta Jovanović, executive director, NALED 

Thank you for being here and for helping make this event successful beyond all expectations in this socio-political moment. In addition, this event was a proof of concept for a regional partnership we have been building for over a decade. This concept is based on public-private dialog and mutual cooperation that shows we have no prejudice and that we are open to talking and discussing smart solutions for our region, and we have heard dozens solutions at this conference. 

We have already implemented some of them, and what makes me especially hopeful is that we come to an agreement that we come across and deal with are not one of a kind. They are exclusive to us or our economies, they are common. What’s even better, at the conference we could hear solutions to some of these problems, which we can implement together more easily. That is why we count on your support, to move our entire region faster and closer to the EU perspective through the implementation of such solutions and more importantly, to bring European quality of life to our region for all our citizens. 

We believe that with what we have done together so far, we deserve further support and with that, we invite all to meet again in a year and to be the bearers of some of those solutions. I think that our task has already been partially fulfilled, the region is working together again, and I congratulate all of us on that. Thank you. 

Zorica Bilić, Open Regional Funds Modernization of Municipal Services Country Coordinator at GIZ

We started this conference by discussing digital transformation and ended it with green transformation, which is not surprising considering that these two big challenges lie ahead of us, happily with proven effective solutions that we can replicate. Two key messages I would highlight from the conference, are that human capital, investing in human capital, and collaboration are most important. I think we worked during these two and a half days on both. 

We have strengthened human capital and our capacities, but we were also creating preconditions for cooperation. More than 200 people attended the conference. We had more than 40 panelists across nine topics. We have raised a large number of topics and identified a large number of solutions. 

As far as the German development cooperation is concerned, in the coming period, we stand as a support for one truly human capital that we have seen in the Regional Network for a Favorable Business Environment in Southeast Europe, in all of you, to jointly, through cooperation, strengthen our capacities, strengthen human capital in this region and bring it, both through digital and through green transformation, to the point where it is competitive. Thank you and good luck.