World Bank Project - CERP

About the Project 

Competitiveness and Export Readiness Project (CERP) is funded by World Bank Group and Implemented by Ministry of Trade and Industry  

The Competitiveness and Export Readiness Project aims is to strengthen the capacity of select public institutions in Kosovo that contribute to improving exports and private sector competitiveness.  

The project seeks to improve the business environment and export readiness of firms by upgrading national quality infrastructure, supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with export potential, and reforming the business inspections system. Increasing productivity, improving product quality, and reducing cost for business inspections are vital steps for improving business environment and export readiness of firms in Kosovo. 

The Project will contribute to the government’s efforts to enhance the business environment and export readiness of firms by modernizing the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI), supporting SMEs with export potential, and reforming the business inspections system. Kosovo is one of the least integrated countries in the region and shows very low export performance. Exports are hampered by lack of adequate NQI, a public good that is cost-prohibitive for any private agent to fund on a systemic level. In addition, there is an urgent need to support SMEs to mitigate information asymmetries and overcome the high fixed cost of export entry by helping them to improve the quality of their products, tap into regional value chains, and improve the relevant skills of their employees. In addition, Kosovo has the highest number of individual inspections among all its neighboring countries, which poses a significant regulatory and compliance burden on businesses.  

The project will finance the following three subcomponents:  

  1. Improving NQI and supporting its international recognition,

  1. Supporting businesses to improve export readiness, and

  1. Reforming the business inspections system.