Albania & Macedonia Sign Free Trade Agreement

TIRANA, March 22 (Reuters) - Albania signed up to a free trade agreement with Macedonia on Friday as part of an initiative to create a pan-Balkan free trade zone. Once ratified by the parliaments of the two neighboring Balkan countries, customs tariffs for certain goods traded between them would be gradually phased out over six years.

"Our final goal is to create a free trade zone in the Balkans, and than for the whole region to have a free trade agreement with the EU," a spokesman for the Albanian Economy Ministry told Reuters. A free trade memorandum was signed in June 2001 between seven Balkan nations under the auspices of the EU-sponsored Stability Pact for South-eastern Europe, a scheme meant to channel funds to repair economies shattered by a decade of wars.

Regional cooperation is also seen as a cornerstone to reach European integration, a key ambition for all the Balkans. The seven countries involved are Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The memorandum said each country should have signed bilateral agreements with the other six within 2002. Then in the successive six years custom tariffs for most goods would be reduced to a minimum or zero. A series of internal political problems have weighed on Albania's efforts. Other than with Macedonia, which is one of its top 10 trade partners, so far Albania has managed to open negotiations only with Croatia.