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Kosovo

Kosovo labour force grows by some 30,000 new entrants annually, but economic trends fall short to generate the jobs needed. Youth, women, and minorities are the most excluded. Lack of SME innovation and of relevant, affordable market support services limit SME growth. As sustainable sector growth has the highest potential to create SMEs and jobs, the private sector development and job creation remain the main goals of the Kosovo Government.
About Kosovo

Country Facts

  • Area in km2: 10,908
  • Population: 1,782,115
  • Capital: Prishtina

Swisscontact in Kosovo

  • since 2001
  • 4 running projects

Projects

View all projects from Kosovo
2024 - 2029
Kosovo
Initial vocational education and training, Upskilling and Reskilling, Labour market insertion
Matching Skills to Jobs (MSJ)
Matching Skills to Jobs is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), implemented by Swisscontact. The project is part of the Swiss Portfolio Outcome 2 of the Swiss Cooperation Programme 2022-2025, which is aligned with the SDC's strategic orientation in the field of education, in particular improving governance, quality and relevance.The MSJ project aims to bring about significant progress in the vocational education and training (VET) system in Kosovo by establishing a governance structure that is not only adaptable, but also promotes effective cooperation between private and public stakeholders.
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2022 - 2025
Kosovo
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Fostering Employment and Growth Opportunities (FEGO)
The FEGO project aims to generate employment and income for women, men, and youth, presently living in poverty and socio-economic marginalization. The project seeks to reach sustainable and scalable growth of micro/small (family) business and start-ups, in three main sectors where the project is focused: apparel, furniture and rural tourism. 
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2021 - 2025
Kosovo
Entrepreneurial ecosystems, Sustainable tourism
Promoting Private Sector Employment
Kosovo has grown moderately at an average rate of 4% in the last few years (pre-COVID 19) and is constantly facing growing labour force, while the labour market falls short of generating the jobs needed to absorb the new entrants (around 30,000 annually). Formal employment makes around 75% of the overall employment, with public sector accounting for 25% of formal jobs. Youth, women, and minorities (particularly the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian) remain the most excluded groups. The COVID-19 pandemic did not spare Kosovo’s economy from its devastating impact.
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2015 - 2027
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Peru, Serbia, Vietnam
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Swiss Entrepreneurship Program
The heart of any entrepreneurial ecosystem is the community of entrepreneurs themselves. The Swiss Entrepreneurship Program (Swiss EP) has incorporated this belief and supports building local startup communities bottom up by working with ecosystem leaders and builders since 2015. We do this by working with selected startup support organizations...
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Benin, Bolivia, Cambodia, Kosovo, Nepal, Peru
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Senior Expert Contact
Promoting entrepreneurship through expertise - Imparting technical skills through volunteer work Through their services, Senior Expert Contact (SEC) experts provide hands-on, direct support to companies and institutions in their efforts to grow.
Website
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News

View all news from Kosovo
Kosovo
18.03.2025
Enhancing agricultural market systems in Kosovo: Insights from a new study
A strong and well-functioning agricultural market system is key to economic growth, job creation, and sustainable rural development. In Kosovo, improving these systems requires a comprehensive approach that strengthens value chains, enhances competitiveness, and creates opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses.
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Kosovo
Sustainable agriculture
17.03.2025
Enhancing Coordination in Kosovo’s Fruit and Vegetable Processing Sector
As part of ongoing efforts to foster collaboration and systemic improvements in Kosovo’s agribusiness sector, PPSE project recently facilitated a roundtable discussion with the Kosovo Investment and Enterprise Support Agency (KIESA), Department of Rural Development Policies within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development (MAFRD), sector associations, and the private sector.
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Kosovo
Trade
14.03.2025
Enhancing Market Access and Trade Growth: FEGO’s Impact in Kosovo
With Kosovo’s growing furniture, apparel, and rural tourism sectors, the FEGO project has strategically focused on trade initiatives to enhance market access and boost exports. By leveraging global sourcing shifts and Kosovo’s visa liberalization, FEGO connects local enterprises with international markets.
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Country Director Kosovo
Fisnik Recica

Swisscontact in Kosovo

Swisscontact’s key objective in Kosovo is to strengthen the private sector, improve business conditions and create a dynamic labour market that offers job and business opportunities to all. The focus is on the unemployed youth, women, and minorities.  

In Kosovo, Swisscontact works across several segments of economic life in the country, from supporting job creation in the food and natural ingredients and tourism sectors to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, Swisscontact trains coaches, enabling them to guide young people into the world of work.

This is done in collaboration with a broad spectrum of local partners from the government institutions, private sector, education institutions and business organizations.  

Swisscontact’s work in these sectors is an essential part of Switzerland’s development strategy in the country. 

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JOBS

Request for Proposal

Published on March 14, 2025

The Matching Skills to Jobs (MSJ) project, invites relevant entities (companies, institutions) to submit a proposal for: Assessment of public VET schools and development of a strategic roadmap for optimizing the network the public VET schools in Kosovo.

The interested companies (institutions) should prepare their proposal in line with the Terms of Reference.

Proposals presented in English language, consisting of technical and financial details in separate PDF documents, must be submitted electronically to [email protected] with the subject line: " MSJ VET School Optimization".

Deadline for written questions: 16:00 hours, March 21, 2025

Answers provided to questions/clarifications: March 24, 2025

Proposal due date: 16:00 hours, April 9, 2025

Terms of Reference
674 kB
Responses to inquiries
433 kB

Call for Consultancy

The Matching Skills to Jobs (MSJ) project, is seeking to recruit a local consultant to support the MSJ project team in conducting a feasibility study on introducing, setting up and operating Sectoral Skills Bodies in Kosovo.

Qualifications and experience

The consultant should have:

  • A minimum of academic master’s degree.
  • Proven experience in VET policy analysis, labour market assessments, or skills development.
  • Proven experience in system thinking and development.
  • Knowledge of sectoral approaches in skills development and international practices.
  • Demonstrated ability to conduct research, stakeholder consultations, and policy analysis.
  • Experience working with private sector stakeholders, government institutions and development partners in Kosovo or similar contexts.
  • Excellent analytical and report-writing skills in English.

Interested applicants, in line with the Terms of Reference, are invited to submit their CV, a brief proposal outlining their approach to conducting the feasibility study, and a financial proposal outlining their consultancy fees.

Applications should be submitted electronically until April 06, 2025, to [email protected] with the subject line: " MSJ SSB consultant".

Terms of Reference, Sectoral Skills Bodies
637 kB

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Contact

Swisscontact in Kosovo
Rr. Bekim Fehmiu 141
10000 Pr­ishtina, Kosovo