The first impression I had about Kosovo was at the airport, while waiting for the organizing team. My thought was that I was somewhere in a Mediterranean country, very vivid, active and with a hot climate. However, the set-up and landscape reminded me of an Eastern European country, with the specific buildings, customs, even the still visible war scars. Moreover, the veils worn by some women gave the landscape an exotic tint, all representing a mix which was both intriguing and interesting.

My favourite part of the conference was the panel discussions. The first panel discussion consisted of reputable speakers, such as Mr. Ahmet Shala (Minister of Economy and Finance of Kosova), Mrs Mimoza Kusari (CEO at American Chamber of Commerce in Kosova) and Mrs. Sophie Beaumont (from the European Commission). The panel was concentrated around the theme “Education, Labor Market and Business Services”, bringing up burning issues such as Kosovo’s strive to align with the European Union. I found out that Kosovo has been administered by too many institutions in the past and now it would be the time for the withdrawal of other decision-making entities in-power and to let one government rule.

The second panel discussion, “21st Century Global Economy and Consequences for Traditional Economic Models”, had the presence of Prof. Dr. Nexhmi Rexha,-from the ASAU Institute from Prishtina, Mr. Shpend Ahmeti- Executive Director of GAP Institute, Ms. Elizabeth Heath- Project Manager of SPARK and Mr Ralph Blundell- member of the European Baha’i Business forum. An argument which emerged from the discussion is that in Kosovo, organizations and institutions should be more impact-orientated rather than only working in a post-conflict country. Also, it was highlighted that one of Kosovo’s competitive advantages is the youth force, which represents the biggest challenge for Kosovo, but also has the biggest potential.

Other great aspects which Kosovo could strengthen would be their banking system, which is safe in a period of crisis, replacing the import-orientated perspective and start producing, since natural resources are yet to be further explored in this country. At this panel discussion, I also came to know about strong entrepreneurship initiatives, such as the kiosks from the North of Kosovo, which do not grow, as they got to a comfortable level- big entrepreneurship opportunities.

Confederation representatives participated in the JADE General Assembly, whilst other Junior Entrepreneurs attended the workshops, choosing from 15 high- standard workshops. As the Vice-President of JADE UK, I participated at the GA to discuss and vote upon issues regarding our network. The reasons why our GAs are so attractive and interesting for all the participants are the cultural interaction, learning from your peers and finding out about other perspectives and how people from other confederations tackle their issues. Items from the agenda included electing the new JADE Executive Board, deciding on the next Junior Entreprise World Conference, the current’s ExBo’s activity report, country reports, updates on the current rolling projects in JADE – Enlargement Team and Confederations Audit, etc.

From our discussions, I am proud to announce that our new JADE Executive Board is: Antonia Sariyska (from the UK and of Bulgarian nationality) – as President, Moritz Beck (from Germany), as Vice-President, Matthieu Milan (from France) as Vice-President, Adelina Peltea (from Romania) as Secretary General and Ricardo Ponce (from France) as Treasurer. And what a multicultural Executive Board: fresh, dynamic and full of ideas and energy! What I wrote down were 5 main reasons for joining JADE: challenge, diversity, team spirit, enthusiasm, and opportunity!

With regards to the next Summer JADE meeting, which is actually the next Junior Entreprise World Conference, it will be next year, from the 23rd of July in Milano, one of the greatest Italian cities! 10 motivated Italian Junior Entrepreneurs from JADE Italia promised us a great meeting, with great events, workshops, activities, places and participants!

On what concerns the workshops, the overall feedback was quite positive, with very active and involved leaders. I have got the chance to talk to one of the participants at the workshop “Government & Business: The importance of supporting entrepreneurship: The Kosovo case”. Here, I found out that measures need to be taken in order to provide for sustainable economic and political development and offer a better future for all communities in Kosovo. Some of these measures would be the promotion of local products, the development of safety nets to protect entrepreneurs and focusing on the young population for the economic development due to the high unexplored potential.

And not to forget about an equally important part of the conference, the social part, I can state that is was amazing to socialize and party with other 200 Junior Entrepreneurs! The ideas that came up during dinner, the opportunity to learn about other practices in Junior Entreprises, all are invaluable lessons which can be discussed only in such a set-up of an international conference. Not to mention about the cultural aspect, where engaging discussions with people from Kosovo revealed some facts about the country about which I could not read from the internet and understand the same. In this way, I found out about their experiences before, during and after the war, about the fact that all their names mean something in Albanian
(e.g. Flamur means flag), about their tight community spirit.

The cultural and social events included dinners with Kosovo’s traditional food (I particularly liked the mantija- pastry filled with meat) and a special orchestra which played traditional music during the Gala Dinner. One great experience I had was when I went down to the hotel lobby to discover there a traditional wedding. As a proof of Kosovo’s hospitality, we were even invited to dance.

To end my brief report, I would like to express my gratitude to Shell UK for offering me the opportunity to travel to Kosovo and have one of the best and most interesting experiences ever as a Junior Entrepreneur!

Ana-Elena Sotropa
JADE UK Vice-President 2007/2009

Feel free to leave comments below about this event.

On behalf of the organising time, I would like to express my gratitude for your attendance at the JADE UK 3rd Annual Congress in Edinburgh, from the 13th to the 16th of March.

Both I and other members of the team had a great time and it was a pleasure to get to know you and to find out more about your Junior Enterprises.

I hope we can keep in touch for the future and to strengthen the relationships between Junior Enterprises!

See you at future meetings!

Yours sincerely,

Ana Elena Sotropa
JADE UK Conference Project Manager

Photos will appear on this site soon.

We look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh!

• Aiming to invite guest speakers and members of other JEs and Confederations from JADE members (13 countries in total)
• Business game, with the Corporate Social Responsibility theme. Teams of professionals and selected students
• Great opportunity for networking
• Intended budget: roughly £12 000
• Previous two conferences (Edinburgh, London) were massive success

The website with more information about this event will be online soon. Until then feel free to comment below with your questions.