Multi-dimensional Reviews (MDR) are the result of a collaborative effort by the OECD and the economies under review. This report was carried out by the OECD Development Centre in collaboration with the OECD Directorate of Education and Skills (EDU). It benefited from excellent collaboration with the Governments in the Western Balkans.
The review was produced under the guidance of Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Director of the OECD Development Centre. It was led and co‑ordinated by Jan Rieländer, Head of Country Diagnostics and Strategy, together with Gorazd Režonja, Policy Analyst. The report was drafted by Jan Rieländer, Juan de Laiglesia, Gorazd Režonja, Kerstin Schopohl, Håvard Halland (OECD Development Centre), Caitlyn Guthrie (OECD EDU), Marija Kuzmanović (OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities), and Simon Field (External Consultant). Vera Leuner, Lucie Fourel, Kate Chalmers and Camille Auxepaules (OECD Development Centre) provided superb statistical, research and drafting support. Myriam Andrieux (OECD Development Centre) provided secretarial assistance. ENOVA Consultants and Engineers, and Centre for Energy, Environment and Resources (CENER21) provided background research, analytical and drafting inputs to the report.
A special thanks goes to the Multi-dimensional Reviews’ main focal points and their teams in Government institutions. Majlinda Dhuka, General Director of Department of Development and Good Governance, and Oriana Arapi, General Director of Policy Unit, both in the Office of the Prime Minister, were the main focal points in Albania and were supported by Nertil Jole. Hamdo Tinjak, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, was the main focal point in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was supported by Admir Alihodžić. Vedat Sagonjeva, Director of the Strategic Planning Office, Office of the Prime Minister, was the main focal point in Kosovo and was supported by Venhar Nushi. Elena Ivanovska, State Adviser on Monitoring the Implementation of the Government Programme, and Ivanna Hadjievska, Advisor to the Prime Minister on International Relations and Cooperation with Organizations, both in the Office of the Prime Minister, were the main focal points in North Macedonia. Branko Budimir, Assistant Minister, Department for planning, programming, monitoring and reporting on EU funds and development assistance, Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia, was the main focal point in Serbia, and was supported by Nataša Kalaba and Danilo Golubović.
The report greatly benefited from the support of the Embassies of Sweden in the economies of the Western Balkans, including Petra Burcher, Ermelinda Xhaja, Mikael Atterhög, Biljana Dzartova Petrovska, Ivana Nakikj, Mentor Kadriu, Eva Gibson Smedberg, Mario Vignjević, Karin McDonald, Ida Reuterswärd, Snezana Vojčić, Henrik Riby and Nasrin Pourghazian. The Embassies of Sweden organised workshops and missions, and provided valuable comments.
The team is grateful for insightful comments by Marzena Kisielewska, Anita Richter, Martin Kohtze, Jovana Pavlovic Djukic, Clemence Girin (OECD Global Relations Secretariat), Elizabeth Fordham and Caitlyn Guthrie (OECD EDU), Talya Vatman (International Energy Agency), Judd Ormsby (OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), and Dirk Buschle (Energy Community Secretariat).
The Western Balkan economies, member countries of the OECD Development Centre and other experts gathered during the informal meetings of the Mutual Learning Group for Multi-dimensional Country Reviews (MLG-MDCR) held in February 2022 to review this MDR and share development and policy experiences. The report benefited from valuable comments and examples by lead reviewers and discussants. Peter Grk, Secretary-General of the Bled Strategic Forum and Western Balkans, Coordinator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia, provided the overall comments on the report. Christoph Graf, Counsellor/DAC Delegate, Delegation of Switzerland to the OECD, led the review of the education and competencies chapters. Katja Lautar, State Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Slovenia, led the review of social cohesion chapters. Richard Masa, Head of Sector, Western Balkans Investment Framework, Directorate General for Neighbourhood & Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission, led the review of green recovery chapters. Special thanks go to chairs of the MLG-MDCR meetings, including Alexandre Acka and Abdelghni Lakhdar, Co-Chairs of the MLG-MDCR, as well as Agnes Stenström, Development Analyst, Chief Economist Team, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Octavio Ferreira, Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay in Paris, both members of the Bureau of the MLG-MDCR.
The MDR team is grateful to the representatives from ministries, agencies, private sector and non-governmental organisations that took part in the peer-learning workshops held in 2021, as well as for their insightful contributions and comments.
In Albania: Fation Dragoshi (Swiss funded Skills for jobs project), Dritan Mezini (DM Consulting), Elona Karafili (Polis University), Iris Murati (Albanian Producers Association), Mirela Andoni and Leticja Gusho, (Center for Competitive Skills), Rozalba Merdani and Matilda Bulku (Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth), Xhilda Papajani and Erviola Nelaj (Ministry of Health and Social Protection), Saimir Plaku and Enxhi Dosti (Agency For Support of Local Self-Government, Ministry of Interior), Genta Prodani (Ministry of Finance and Economy), Nevila Kocollari Furxhiu and Eris Dhamo (University of Tirana), Aurora Bozo (civil society representative), Laureta Dibra and Artur Pilkati (Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy), Ermelinda Kordha (University of Tirana), and Mihallaq Qirjo (Resource Environmental Center).
In Bosnia and Herzegovina: Tanja Lučić, Amina Mulabdić and Amra Fetahović (Directorate for Economic Planning), Daria Duilović and Aida Dzaferović (Ministry of Civil Affairs), Djenana Golos (Federal Ministry of Education and Science), Amina Šljivo Bećić (NAHLA – Center for Education and Research), Sanja Miovčić (Foreign Investors Council), Nedim Krajišnik (Center for Educational Initiatives Step by Step), Jasmina Andrić and Aida Resić Salkunić (Federal Institute for Development Programming), Siniša Veselinović (Labour and Employment Agency), Nikolina Obradović (University of Mostar), Jasmina Osmanković (University of Sarajevo), Branka Knežević, Tamara Bajkuša, Sanja Kapetina (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations), Samir Đug (University of Sarajevo), Elvisa Bećirović (Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine d.d.), and Denis Žiško (Centre for Ecology and Energy).
In Kosovo: Venhar Nushi, Adnan Ahmeti, Arber Behluli and Vera Rexhepi Leci (Office of the Prime Minister), Ferit Idrizi and Valbona Fetiu Mjeku (Ministry of Education and Science), Gentrit Berisha and Bedri Dragusha (University of Prishtina), Gent Berisha (Kosovo Investment and Enterprise Support Agency), Besim Kamberaj (Ministry of Regional Development), Shpetim Kalludra and Petrit Reka (Employment Agency), Leonora Ahmeti Zylfijaj (Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare), Gloriosa Hisari (Civil Rights Program), Luan Morina, Sabit Gashi and Abdullah Pirçe (Ministry of Economy), Përparim Kabashi (Korporata Energjetike e Kosovës), and Besfort Kosova (Balkan Green Foundation).
In North Macedonia: Elena Ivanovska and Ivanna Hadjievska (Office of the Prime Minister), Nadica Kostoska (Ministry of Education and Science), Valentina Gocevska (Bureau for Development of Education), Atanas Kochov (University St Cyril and Methodius in Skopje), Dejan Chupovski (Delegation of German Industry and Commerce), Sofija Spasovska (Ministry of Social policy and Labor), Renata Hadzi Ivanova (Bureau for regional development), Goran Petkovski (Employment Service Agency), Svetlana Trbojevik (Institute of Social Work and Social Policy), Biljana Dukovska (Macedonian Anti-Poverty Platform), Katerina Bilbiloska (Ministry of Economy), Teodora Obradovic Grncarovska (Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning), Aleksandar Dedinec (National Academy of Science and Arts), Dimitar Kocovski (Energy Association), Ana Colovic Lesoska and Nevena Smilevska (Eko-svest) and Slagjana Stameknova (Ekozvonce).
In Serbia: Anamarija Viček (Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development), Milica Radovanović Dumonjić, Boris Milanović and Dragan Mrkalj (Ministry of European Integration), Elizabeta Karalić (Institute for Education Quality and Education), Ana Vusurović Lazarević (Center for Educational Policies), Mirjana Kovačević and Miroslav Lutovac (Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Katarina Popović (Adult Education Society), Marija Filipović-Ožegović (Foundation Tempus), Slađana Čabrić and Jelena Vasić (Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs), Aleksandar Popović (Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities), Jelena Žarković (University of Belgrade), Nataša Vučković (Center for Democracy Foundation), Natalija Luković (Ministry of Mining and Energy), Mila Stanković (Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government), Vladica Božić (Ministry of Environmental Protection), Ilija Batas-Bjelić (Institute of Technical Sciences of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts), and Zvezdan Kalmar (Center for Ecology and Sustainable Development).
The peer-learning workshops were designed and moderated by Raoul Blindenbacher, Managing Director at Blindenbacher Borer Consulting Ltd. and Independent Consultant at the OECD Development Centre, supported by OECD staff: Jan Rieländer, Juan de Laiglesia, Gorazd Režonja, Lorenzo Pavone, Ji-Yeun Rim, Kerstin Schopohl, Lara Fleischer, Andrea Colombo, Alanna Markle, Dexter Docherty and Myriam Andrieux. The workshops also greatly benefited from the excellent presentations and valuable insights from Andreas Schleicher and Caitlyn Guthrie (OECD EDU), Annika Uudelepp (OECD SIGMA), Janez Kopač (previously at the Energy Community Secretariat), Aleksander Szpor (Polish Economic Institute), Andréï Tretyak (Expertise France) and Eva Theisz (Arbetsförmedlingen, Sweden).
Finally, the team acknowledges Marilyn Smith for editing the manuscript. Aida Buendia, Delphine Grandrieux and Elizabeth Nash from the OECD Development Centre’s Communications and Publications Unit, and Meral Gedik (Consultant) edited, laid out and produced the report.