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Kapetanovic: Balkans, over 190 thousand empty places in the next 5 years

2026-04-28 19:26:00, Ekonomi CNA

The economies of the Western Balkans are entering a phase where growth is no longer enough to guarantee real development. The warning comes from the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Amer Kapetanovi?, who stressed that the region risks remaining in a model that produces growth but not transformation.

Speaking at the KFF2026 business forum in Pristina, he gave a figure that sums up the problem: over 190,000 workers could be missing in the next five years. At the same time, labor productivity in the region remains around 40% of the European Union average, a gap that makes real convergence with EU economies difficult.

According to Kapetanovi?, the countries of the region face a clear choice: either move towards a new model based on productivity, or risk deepening labor shortages, fiscal pressure, and a convergence that remains half-baked. He underlined that the current model, based on cheap labor, remittances, construction, and public spending, cannot bear the weight of development any longer.

In this context, the Regional Common Market was presented as one of the main instruments to increase productivity and competitiveness. According to him, this mechanism can help expand the market for businesses, move skills, reduce costs and harmonize with European standards. However, he stressed that the lack of trust in the region remains a real obstacle, adding that productivity cannot increase in conditions of uncertainty.

Kapetanovi? also touched on the demographic challenge, warning that the working-age population in the region is expected to decline significantly by 2050. In this situation, he argued that only deeper regional integration and stronger ties to the European market can create the conditions to move from the brain drain phenomenon to its return.

During his visit to Pristina, he held meetings with senior representatives of the Kosovo government, where they discussed promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and citizen mobility, as well as the concrete advancement of regional economic cooperation.

The message that emerged from the forum was clear: the region no longer has the luxury of relying on old models. Either it changes the way it produces and competes, or it will face an economy that grows in numbers but empties in people.